Avangrid has finished the 202-MWDC Powell Creek solar project in Putnam County, Ohio, and it has begun to export energy into the local electric grid. Full commercial operation should be reached later this year.
“Powell Creek is an important, utility-scale solar project that will contribute to Northwest Ohio’s economy and energy independence,” said Pedro Azagra, Avangrid CEO. “This project is coming online as energy demand continues to rise across the country, partly due to the growth of manufacturing, electrification, and data centers. When we add new sources of energy onto the grid, like Powell Creek, we’re creating a more robust and reliable electricity infrastructure to benefit the local community, region, and state.”
Powell Creek supported about 500 jobs during construction, most being local union workers from the region. Powell Creek sits on land leased directly from landowners. The project will directly support the community through property tax and landowner payments. The project is estimated to contribute over $31 million to local taxing jurisdictions over its life, which supports a variety of public services, including education.
This is Avangrid’s second project in Ohio. Avangrid built its Blue Creek wind project in 2012, which has a capacity of 304 MW.
News item from Avangrid
I’m pretty certain that you don’t have a proper understanding of how tax abatement works and why government entities use them. The bottom line is that the solar farm most likely will pay more as property tax than it will as land rent to the various owners. Not only in-spite of the abatement but directly because of it! Without the abatement the developers might have chosen a different location! So no local construction jobs and all the higher property assessments are in a different county and different school district.
I feel sorry for the people living near the Powell Creek solar farm. Fortunately the people of the Indian Lake Region saw through the lies of the Grange Solar Farm proposal and were able to reject the proposal. Solar farms finance by tax abatement programs are nothing more than a scam perpetrated by modern day land speculators.