Ohio Representatives Craig S. Riedel (R-Defiance) and Dick Stein (R-Norwalk) recently introduced a bill that they say protects the property rights of township residents by allowing a public referendum for wind and solar projects.
“As a state legislator in Northwest Ohio, I represent the counties with the most wind development in the state,” said Riedel. “The beauty of this bill is that it gives local control to township residents for them to decide whether wind or solar development is welcome to move forward or stopped where it is not welcome.”
Under this legislation, developers are required to share their application with township trustees 30 days before applying for a certificate (or an amendment to an existing certificate) from the Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB). After reviewing the application, trustees must vote on one of the following:
- A resolution allowing public input (grants qualified electors within the affected township the right to petition a referendum)
- A resolution requiring public input (stipulates that if approved, a certificate is required to be submitted to the voters of the township for approval via referendum)
- No resolution (indicates public support for the project)
- A certificate or amendment issued by the OSPB for a project that falls within the area of a township becomes effective on the 90th day after it is issued unless a referendum petition is filed with the local board of elections.
If the petition receives the required number of signatures of at least 8% of the total votes cast in the last gubernatorial election, the project must be approved by voters at the next primary or general election before moving forward.
The bill sponsors noted that the bill is permissive for townships and provides no hindrance to townships that support wind and solar projects in their region.
“With the introduction of this legislation we look forward to expanding rights of local communities to be more active participants in wind development which affects their daily lives,” said Stein.
The Utility Scale Solar Energy Coalition of Ohio (USSEC) strongly opposes these bills.
“This legislation is opposed by business, labor, agriculture, energy and education interests. Solar companies are working with farmers and communities to develop world class energy projects while providing massive revenue for schools and local governments,” said Jason Rafeld, executive director of USSEC. “We are looking at $18 billion in economic impacts and almost 55,000 jobs through utility-scale solar development in Ohio. Senate Bill 52 and House Bill 118 would have a chilling effect on this progress. We believe that complex, utility-scale electric generation must be regulated at the state level.”
“The Ohio Power Siting Board process is one of the most rigorous and extensive permitting processes in the state. We spend almost a year working through dozens of studies like environmental and cultural, wildlife, interconnection and economic — in addition to transportation management and decommissioning plans,” said Mark Walter, director of legislative and regulatory affairs for Savion. “We are working with landowners, communities and businesses to create lasting wealth for schools and local governments all across Ohio. Just as we are reaching the finish line, some want to change the rules of the game. We have made agreements and decisions under current law, but we are being told that doesn’t matter. This is a terrible signal to send business in Ohio.”
“Our project teams engage and listen to residents and community leaders when developing projects to ensure our facilities can be in harmony with the surrounding community. Each site’s design is carefully considered to avoid impacts on neighbors, the environment, and cultural and community resources,” said Jessica Gliha, director of community and government relations for Geenex Solar. “Solar’s development and construction processes make it one of the only land uses specifically designed to allow the land to return to its previous use as farmland in the future. Solar is the perfect placeholder for the future.”
This bill is companion legislation to Senate Bill 52 sponsored by State Senators Bill Reineke (R-Tiffin) and Rob McColley (R-Napoleon). The bill now awaits referral to a House committee.
News item from the office of Representative Craig Riedel
If i understand this correctly, we live in a democracy and the republican Ohio Representatives are appropriately allowing the respective communities to have a vote. After all, this is the basic freedom our country was built on. I support community support for these projects! I do not one of these wind farms or solar farms in my community.
“Ohio Representatives Craig S. Riedel (R-Defiance) and Dick Stein (R-Norwalk) recently introduced a bill that they say protects the property rights of township residents by allowing a public referendum for wind and solar projects.”
I see lip service to “property rights” and some kind of NIMBY offering process to block such projects. There’s quite a bit of farmland left in Ohio, how about “those” property owners rights? Would this ‘local referendum’ allow NIMBYs in the area to stop a farmer from leasing land to wind farm developers to put wind turbines on his property and pay lease agreements for every wind turbine to the farm’s owner? A farmer fallowing some of his/her acreage for a solar PV farm and using the long term lease payments to keep the farm financially healthy, would this be a “public opinion” use of someone else’s land or an intrusion of the farmer’s “property rights”?
There’s already been one RICO case brought against the “movers and shakers” in Ohio over deals and practices designed to subsidize fueled generation in the State. One could call ‘this’ exercise in the name of “property rights” Nimbymandering.
Seeing how the Ohio USSEC is publishing polling data with high, if not ridiculous, margins of error I am unsure how anyone could trust their opinion that this legislation is so greatly opposed. However, let’s take their polling as accurate. If support, as USSEC, states is overwhelming in Ohio what do renewable energy developers have to worry about? The truth is, there polling is more than flawed, people are learning that the tax abatement/subsidies provided by instruments such as PILOT agreements actually hurt local/county governments and schools and are beginning standing up for their individual rights which were stripped away with past “emergency legislation”.
As for Ohio having a rigorous and stringent permitting process, who are you trying to kid? The Ohio Power Siting Board essentially reviews a developer’s application for completeness and takes the position the developer is always right unless proven otherwise. This presents an unfair and unjust process to those who want to intervene having to match with equal professional engineering or legal services. That is if and when renewable energy developers can not disqualify an intervening party, or their expert witnesses, at the Siting Board (which is often) and can afford the hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars, to match such professional resources for each project in their community. Many times, multiple projects affect the same residents with the same Township or County. How is this even remotely fair to local residents?
Let’s not be fooled. Renewable energy developers realize Ohio is ripe for their projects! Due to the process mentioned, the process 100% favors them and not the communities in which they wish to develop. There is ZERO harm in having such local input so early on in the process. Most businesses (other than renewable energy), big and small, have had to comply with such a local processes for decades. There is no logical, rational or objective reasoning as to why renewable energy developers should get a “pass”. If anything the preferential treatment renewable energy developers receive is more than unfair to business entirely.
If renewable energy developer’s continue stating they desire local resident and governmental input and it is important, what better place to obtain that than before the project is in it’s schematic planning stages or better yet when PJM is enlisted to perform a feasibility study. Renewable energy developers time and time again advertise that they stand for the property rights of those whom which they are leasing land from, why does that not also extend to the remainder of the residents within a Township? Either they are being hypocrites or truly know polling, like Ohio USSEC’s, is extremely flawed.
How about letting this legislation pass and discuss these projects on their merits. I challenge renewable energy developers to be more transparent and stop trying to take money from our children’s education, township’s fire/police and rescue services, counties and other essential services like senior and veteran’s services by claiming PILOT agreements will provide more revenue than a traditional taxing structure. How about renewable energy developers just treat people like adults, being honest, and stop trying to slip these projects under the radar as it is doing you no good.
If residents of Shawnee Township, Allen County, Ohio wish to proceed with the planned Lightsource BP Birch Solar utility-scale industrial solar complex AFTER having had a chance to vote on it, then I would 100% accept the results of that vote. I may disagree or not like the outcome, but at least I know people in my community had the opportunity to debate the project on its merits, consider the pros/cons, and were given the choice. Ohio DOES NOT provide this opportunity currently. One person, one vote. That is what this legislation is and only returns the core values of a democratic republic back to local residents so they can have input on these types of renewable energy projects.
Again, what does the renewable energy industry have to hide?