LENOX TOWNSHIP – Around 100 people came to a private home in Lenox Township for a meeting of Ashtabula County neighbors and landowners Wednesday evening, July 29, to hear from local opponents of a proposed wind power development, as well as people whose lives have been affected by projects elsewhere.
Apex Clean Energy, based in Charlottesville, Va., is in the early stages of developing the Station Wind development, a planned 300-megawatt wind farm using between 50 and 70 turbines placed across much of eastern Ashtabula County.
Apex is seeking to lease land from private property owners in Williamsfield, Wayne, Colebrook, New Lyme, Cherry Valley, Andover, Richmond, Dorset, Lenox, Morgan, Pierpont, Monroe and Sheffield townships.
Walt Poffenbaugh, a retired Ohio Highway Patrol post commander from Huron County, spoke on his work opposing Firelands Wind LLC, an Apex subsidiary, in its development of a 71-turbine, 300 megawatt wind farm on 32,000 acres in Huron and Seneca counties.
Poffenbaugh criticized the Ohio Power Citing Board, a state body tasked with approving locations for electrical generating facilities. Its voting members are appointed, while elected officials serving on the board cannot cast a vote. Its function, he said, is to locate power stations, not to serve the public’s interest.
Ohio Senate Bill 52 is a 2021 state law that significantly altered the approval process for utility-scale renewable energy developments by granting the county commissioners veto power over wind and solar projects. The law overrides the public utility exemption, giving boards the authority to prohibit or limit the size of large wind and solar facilities.
It also mandates a longer, more public-facing approval process, according to Poffenbaugh.
Counties can proactively designate restricted areas where wind and solar developments are entirely banned or establish energy development districts where they are permitted.
Rather than make the decision from Jefferson, County Commissioner Casey Kozlowski said in a June meeting with township officials that the county wanted to inform townships of what SB 52 calls for and get the trustees’ input before assembling a map for Ashtabula County.
SB 52 governs “economically significant” projects of between 5-50 megawatts, giving local townships the option to decide whether the entire township is open for renewable energy development, part of it or to close it altogether.
Projects of 5 megawatts or less are governed by local zoning codes, according to meeting materials.
The county can also have a project-specific response, according to Kozlowski. Until the county’s restricted area map is finalized, the county will operate on a project-specific basis, he added.
The commissioners are asking each township to identify areas where utility-scale projects should be restricted, if any, considering the needs of agriculture, economic development, residential areas, natural resources, local infrastructure and community identity, according to Kozlowski.
As of this publication’s print deadline, Austinburg, Dorset, Plymouth and Williamsfield townships have passed resolutions restricting wind power developments. Windsor Township has passed one with no restrictions.
Poffenbaugh said he and his wife learned about the Huron County development prior to SB 52’s passage and years after Apex had begun obtaining leases from local landowners.
“Imagine our surprise,” he said.
Citizen-led efforts in Huron County led to the county commissioners rejecting tax incentives for the development but did not halt it. Now he says he can see wind turbines in every direction from his front porch.
“We live in Turbine Central,” he said, telling the assembled Ashtabula County residents they’re able to avoid a similar outcome owing to SB 52. “You’re way ahead of the curve.”
Poffenbaugh said residents ousted county officials who had supported wind development. He also pointed to Seneca County, where elected officials vocally opposed wind development, stopping the project there.
“The only difference between (Seneca and Huron counites) was the support of their elected officials,” he said. “We had none; they had plenty.”
Marie Kuhar, a local resident, criticized leases being signed with Apex, saying her research had uncovered that they surrender significant owners’ rights to the land, including a 150-foot-wide transmission easement, ingress and egress routes, access roads and indemnifying Apex of significant legal liability.
The lease runs with the land and passes to the purchaser, according to Kuhar.
Wind turbines and transmission towers are “huge,” between 200 to 920 feet, and the turbine head is larger than a school bus, according to Kuhar.
She also alleged Apex creates subsidiaries that shield the company from liability, saying when the project is shut down, it dissolves the corporations and washes its hands of the consequences.
These land leases also affect neighbors who haven’t signed a lease, she added.
Kevin Bailey, one of the meetings’ organizers, submitted materials on the wind development in Huron County, calling it “the largest involuntary transfer of wealth in the history of Huron County.”
“Electricity suppliers are involved in wind and solar because they are required by law to purchase electricity from the green energy companies managing the wind farms and solar fields at a price above local suppliers’ generation cost,” the statement reads. “Local electricity utilities companies don’t invest in industrial wind and solar because they are required by law to produce a return on investments. These regulated monopolies cannot overinvest in known losing technologies that affect their ability to perform for their customers.”
The Firelands Wind project in Huron County will involve direct payments to 22 landowners of approximately 8,000 residents in the project footprint under a variety of contracts. Most provide payment to landowners based on a complicated calculation structure tied to windmill output, according to the statement.
Small landowners and farmers generally receive basic contracts. Large landowners generally receive contracts that pay more generously.
The effect on farmers without wind and solar leases, especially small ones, includes higher farm rent costs, higher land purchase costs and other expenses that typically rise when the industry is perceived to be experiencing higher income, the statement alleges. The small percentage of landowners benefitting from wind and solar contracts artificially drives increased costs for the majority.
Recent studies in the Midwest show a reduction in home values of at least 5 percent. Both current and prospective residential property near solar and wind projects have become less desirable because of safety concerns, affected views and lease options held on bare land.
“Tax is being collected on everyone, with a portion being diverted to support industrial wind and solar projects in Huron County,” the statement reads. “Funds are leaving Huron County in the form of out-of-state site labor, out-of-state green energy companies, international component manufacturing, etc.”
During the life of the wind and solar projects, tax revenues collected on them by Huron County is the only ongoing benefit to the county. At the end of the project, that money flow stops and Huron County will be left with a budget deficit requiring new revenue sources from those same taxpayers already facing artificially high costs, the statement alleges.
