The Union County Commissioners have hired a Columbus based law firm to help them prepare for several proposed and potential solar farms.
Last month, the county commissioners voted to retain the law firm of Frost, Brown and Todd for the purpose of handling matters related to solar development projects in Union County.
According to the agreement, the commissioners will pay between $305 and $560 per hour of work, depending on who within the firm is doing the work.
In 2020, Invenergy and Acciona Energy each applied for permission from the Ohio Power Sitting Board (OPSB) to construct solar energy projects in the northern part of the county.
Union County Commissioner Chris Schmenk said that while Invenergy and Acciona have formally proposed plans, several other energy companies are looking at the area.
“We felt the need to quickly get up to speed on these,” Schmenk said.
She added that the commissioners “really felt like we needed to have expertise on what to expect and what this impact could be on the county and the entire region.”
Schmenk said the energy companies will have strong attorneys, “and we just felt it would be best if we did too.”
She said Frost, Brown and Todd has experience working with solar projects as well as the OPSB. She also said the firm has a strong public finance division. Schmenk said that was a strong consideration because, “these solar projects, in every case I have ever heard of in Ohio, has asked for an abatement from the county they are looking at.”
The commissioner said the first order of business for Frost, Brown and Todd will be to file a motion to intervene in both of the projects. She said that simply means the county will be notified of any proceedings and will have the right to comment on the project.
Schmenk said the county does not have the legal authority to stop a solar farm. The Ohio Revised Code provides a general exemption from local zoning for major utility facilities so local zoning does not apply to a facility that holds an OPSB certificate. With that in mind, Schmenk said the commissioners are not necessarily opposing the projects, but do want to be able to negotiate the best terms of development.
“Our goal is to come up with a set of conditions and requests that make the most number of parties as happy as possible,” Schmenk said.
She said there is “a wide range of viewpoints on these solar farms.”
Schmenk said the projects can have benefits for the land owner as well as the schools, but it is also important to protect the area’s roads, drainage and traffic.
“We are just trying to understand everyone’s point of view, where they are coming from and what they want and then trying to figure out what could we get these companies to agree to that would make these as acceptable as possible,” she said.
Schmenk said all three commissioners are, “interested in learning as much as we can, the pros and cons, what this could mean for our community and making sure that if they come, that we provide for things that would make them more acceptable, specifically mentioning larger setbacks, screening, more decorative fencing and preserving the rural characteristics of the area as best as possible.”
The first of the solar farms have said they hope to have permitting approval in the fourth quarter of this year or the first quarter of next year.
“I don’t think we have formed an opinion yet, whether we are for that or opposed to that,” Schmenk said. “We will need to make that decision before then.”
The Acciona Energy project, named Union Solar, is a planned 25 megawatt solar-powered electric generating facility on about 3,500 acres near the intersection of routes 31 and 739 in York and Washington townships. Construction of that facility is set to begin in the first quarter of 2022. Acciona officials said it could be scheduled to be in service by the first quarter of 2023.
Invenergy’s proposed project, Cadence Solar Energy Center, is a 275 megawatt solar-powered electric generation facility. The company already has about 5,100 acres under lease in Union County. The majority of the land is south of Route 47, between Yearsly and Storms roads and north of Route 347. Officials said they expect to begin construction in the first quarter of 2022, expect to be online operational and generating power by the end of 2023.
Solar farm officials have said Union County is an ideal location because the land is flat and close to needed infrastructure and because Ohio and the community are open to new technology and ideas. They have said the solar farms will pay millions in local, and especially school, tax dollars. Project officials have said the power will not go into the state’s power grid because there is already a local contracted buyer.