• 04/07/2025 - The OPSB staff were supposed to render a decision on completeness of the Carnation Solar project application by 04/08/2025.  On 04/03/2025 the developer submitted a motion to extend the date of completeness to May 7th, the motion was granted.  So, the decision on the application being complete will now be determined on or before May 7th.  Note, once the application is deemed complete and a letter of completeness is issued by the OPSB the county commissioners and township trustees have 30 days to chose their Ad Hoc board members.  

Assuming the application is deemed complete and accepted on May 7th here is the timeline for succeeding process items:

• The developer must then pay the application fee and serve copies of the application to the various parties involved.  Once this occurs this sets in motion the following items:

  • The OPSB will set the date by which the OPSB staff is to issue its report of investigation :

    • this is 60 to 90 days after the fee is paid - here this will likely be in the range of July 6th to August 5th

  • The OPSB will set the dates for the Public Hearing (which will be after the staff issues their report) and the date for the evidentiary hearing

    • The Public Hearing will be after the OPSB staff report is issued, so this too will likely be July 6th to August 5th

• 04/08/2025 - various exhibits and post hearing briefs have been filed after the Eastern Cottontail project - now awaiting a decision  on the project

• 03/04 - 03/07/2025 - The Evidentiary Hearing for the Eastern Cottontail project were held across 4 days

• 02/08/2025 - The Protect Amanda Township (PAT) group held a "What's Happening with This Solar Thing" meeting on Saturday 2/8/2025 from 8:30-11am at the Amanda Firehouse. 

• 02/07/2025 - the application for the Carnation Solar project was filed with the OPSB

• 01/27 - 01/28/2025 - the Eastern Cottontail Public Hearing was held at the Pleasantvile Elementary School.  Thank you for speaking up!

• 01/10/2025 - the OPSB staff report for the Eastern Cottontail project was released.  The report can be found here .  The staff recommended approval of the project.  While the staff report is an important finding it is a recommendation, there is still the public meeting, etc. and it is the voting members of the OPSB board who will make the final decision.  

But, why didn't the overwhelming local community opposition, and opposition from other townships etc. make a difference?  The "Conclusion" of the "PUBLIC INTEREST, CONVENIENCE, AND NECESSITY" section  of the report on page 45 states:  "Staff notes that the Fairfield County Board of Commissioners has not acted to intervene in this case, nor has it filed any comment in opposition to the project.  As such, Staff does not feel that the local opposition in this case is especially prominent, one-sided, and compelling."

This reasoning seems very suspect.  Did the staff even think to contact the board of commissioners since it appears they put an extraordinary weight on their input, the answer appears to be No.   The Public Comment written by Commissioner Steve Davis said the commissioners had not taken any position.  Which appears to imply approval by the staff.

Why won't the Fairfield county commissioners take a position?   Are they concerned with legal action (i.e. being "sued) due to their stance?  There are no grounds for such concern.  You can find numerous briefs and letters of opposition from other county commissioners for other solar projects throughout the state.

12 of the 13 townships comprising Fairfield county wrote letters of opposition - does that not matter?  Including to the commissioners?

• The public and adjudicatory hearing dates for Eastern Cottontail have been set, see the OPSB announcement here.  Below are the meeting announcements and other important information in the announcement:

  • "The local public hearing in this matter shall be held on January 27, 2025, at 5:00 p.m., at Pleasantville Elementary School, 300 W. Columbus Street, Pleasantville, Ohio 43148. For those individuals interested in testifying at the local public hearing, a sign-in sheet will be available at the venue and witnesses will be taken in the order in which they sign up to testify. Testimony should be limited to three minutes in duration. If individuals wish to supplement their testimony with an exhibit for the Board’s consideration, a copy of the document should be provided to the ALJ before the end of the local public hearing." The meeting has now been held.

  • "The adjudicatory hearing will commence on March 4, 2025, at 10:00 a.m., at the offices of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, Hearing Room 11-A, 11th Floor, 180 East Broad Street, Columbus, Ohio 43215-3793. To participate in the hearing, parties and observers should register at the lobby desk and proceed to the 11th floor. "  Note: "The purpose of the adjudicatory hearing is for Applicant, Staff, and any intervenors to provide evidence regarding the Application"

  • The following procedural schedule and process  is established: (the following items have now passed)

    • "Staff shall file its report of investigation on or before January 10, 2025"

    • On or before February 10, 2025, each party shall file a list of issue(s) citing specific concerns about which they may be interested in pursuing cross-examination of witnesses at the adjudicatory hearing 

    • All expert and factual testimony to be offered by Applicant shall be filed by February 14, 2025. All expert and factual testimony to be offered by the intervenors and Staff shall be filed by February 21, 2025/

    • Any stipulation entered into by the parties shall be filed by noon on February 24, 2025, along with the associated testimony supporting the stipulation.

    • Any motions to strike testimony shall be filed by February 25, 2025 

• The filing of the Carnation Solar formal application is expected in January 2025

• Carnation Solar Second Informaton Meeting - The 2nd meeting was held Wednesday November 20 from 5-7pm at the Amanda Clearcreek Primary School.  Thank you for your attendance.

• Carnation Solar First Information Meeting - The first of two required information meetings for the Carnation Solar project was held on October 10, from 5-7pm at the Amanda Clearcreek High School Cafeteria.  Thank you for your attendance.  Please attend the second meeting too if you can.

• 09/25/2025 - Carnation Solar held a "Public Open House" at the Amanda Clearcreek High School cafeteria.  Note, this was not the first of two informational meetings required by the OPSB process.  

• 09/18/2024 - The Carnation Solar developer officially filed their pre-application letter with the OPSB, thus beginning the OPSB certificate process.  The OPSB case for Caranation Solar is found here . 

• 07/31/2024 - Eastern Cottontail has filed their application with the Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB).  You can find the case record and documents here.   Please make your voice heard by submitting a public comment, opposing the project, click here  to access the page to help you file a comment.

• 07/25/2024 & 07/27/2024 - "This Solar Thing" informational meetings hosted by Protect Amanda Township were held on these dates, and were well attended.  Thank you for your participation.

• 07/17/2024 - Three people (Chris Snider, Jane Harf, and Attorney Bryan Everitt with Dagger Law in Lancaster) representing National Grid Renewables and the Carnation Solar project located in Amanda Township  were in attendance at the Amanda Clearcreek School Board Meeting.  Chris and Jane presented some information regarding the project, but were quite vague on details and said they have already talked to Superintendent Edwards about band boosters, STEM,etc.  They stated they plan to start the "permitting" process 4Q2024.  Members of the Protect Amanda Township steering committee were present, as well, and took the opportunity during the public communication portion of the meeting to introduce our purpose and asked the board to join the township trustees and county commissioners who oppose large scale solar.  The board members were invited to the "This Solar Thing" open house/informational meetings and given postcards with the details.

• 06/11/2024 -  The location for the 2nd public meeting for the Eastern Cottontail project has been announced, it will be held at Liberty Center, 951 Liberty Dr., Lancaster.    This is the white building back to the right of the BMV building.  The meeting is from 5-7 pm.  PLEASE MAKE SURE TO PROVIDE WRITTEN COMMENTS ON THE COMMENT CARDS AND DEPOSIT THEM IN THE COMMENTS BOX AT THE MEETING.  A summary of these comments and other info from the comments are REQUIRED to be included in the application the solar developer submits to the Ohio Power Siting Board - so this is important!

• 06/04/2024 -  During the Commissioner's meeting two interesting things came up in regards to "solar":

  •  Sherry Pymer brought up a concern regarding the two separate PJM queue entries related to the same interconnection point as the Eastern Cottontail project.  One queue entry (AE2-048) appears to be related to the planned 220MW Eastern Cottontail project but the second one (AE2-136) appears to be for a separate 114MW using the same interconnection point.  Sherry confirmed this with PJM.  Sherry asked about this at the public information meeting hosted by Eastern Cottontail and they had no explanation.  But Commissioner Davis indicated during the meeting he may have an explanation.  He didn't explain further at the time, but appeared to indicate he would let Sherry know.

  • Also, Commissioner Davis brought up the proposed Ohio Senate Bill 275 that is related to solar.  It is cosponsored by Matt Dolan.  He said he is still trying to understand it, particularly since it specifies the facilities are NOT to be located on agricultural land.  Hopefully he will say more at a future meeting.   Opinion starts here - reviewing SB 275 the bill is in regards to "virtual net-metering" which doesn't apply to projects such as Eastern Cottontail or Carnation Solar, so no impact regarding these sorts of projects (IMHO).

• 05/21/2024  - The Fairfield County Commissioners approved a resolution designating all unincorporated areas of all 13 townships in Fairfield County as restricted areas which prohibit the construction of large scale solar facilities.  Note, this may not prohibit all projects, a project that is "grandfathered-in" may be exempt from the resolution.

Also,  within 30 days of resolution adoption a petition may be filed to the board of commissioners signed by at least 8 percent of the voters in the county (as counted at the last election for governor - 8% would be 4,729 signatures based on the information here ) to put the resolution up for a vote in a special election.  If no petition (or no valid petition) is submitted then the resolution takes effect 30 days after adoption. 

• 04/16/2024 - During the Fairfield County Board of County Commissioners meeting today (4/16/2024) a resolution to hold "a Public Hearing to Consider Designation of Restricted Areas Which Prohibit the Construction of Large Solar Facilities in Fairfield County, Ohio" was adopted.   NOTE: this just gives notice that there will be a meeting to discuss restricted areas.  It does not mean there are now restricted areas (yet).  This notice must be done at least 30 days prior to the actual meeting.   The meeting  will be held Tuesday May 21, 2024 at the Liberty Center in Lancaster.

The commissioners must publish in at least one newspaper the time and date of the meeting.  The commissioners must publish a map of the proposed restricted area in all public libraries of the county.  And they must notify all school districts, municipal corporations, and board of trustees in whole or part within the restricted area.  The commissioners indicated that all unincorporated areas of all 13 townships within the county are to be designated as restricted areas, therefore all school districts, boards of trustees, and municipal corporations in the county will be notified.

Here is the meeting date, time, and place as specified in today's resolution:

"the Board of County Commissioners hereby schedule a special meeting for May 21, 2024, at 10:30 am at The Liberty Center, 951 Liberty Drive, Lancaster, Ohio, to consider whether to approve a resolution that would designate restricted areas in Fairfield County, thus prohibiting the construction of large solar facilities, not otherwise exempt under Section 4 under SB 52."

Here is a link to today's resolution announcing the upcoming public meeting mentioned above.

Please do what you can to attend and voice your opposition - this will be critical to seeing that a resolution adopting the restrictions is approved!!

• 04/10/2024 - During the 04/02/2024 Board of County Commissioners meeting the "Citizens For Fairfields" group provided the commissioners with a letter from the attorney Jack Van Kley regarding the exposure of litigation by the commissioners if they were to include the Eastern Cottontail project area in their plans for "restricted areas" for solar development in the unincorporated areas of the county.   The minutes of the meeting containing the letter can be found here.  The overall document size is 268 pages, the letter can be found starting on page 29.

Mr. Van Kley is very well versed in the the Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB)  process and has represented numerous individuals, trustees, etc. as intervenors opposing large scale solar projects before the OPSB.  From review of cases  before the OPSB one may conclude there is no attorney for intervenors opposing projects with more experience than Mr. Van Kley.   So any comments provided  by him should carry significant weight in these regards.

The key point in Mr. Van Kley's letter is "there is no good reason to carve out an exception from the restricted zone for any solar project even if it is grandfathered, since the restriction would not affect a grandfathered project."   Senate Bill 52 (SB52) allows the commissioners to identify the restricted areas and it also identifies the "grandfathered" requirements.  Nothing prohibits a solar developer from persuing an application to the OPSB whether they may be "grandfathered" or not.  The OPSB proceedings will flush out whether the project is "grandfathered" or not.  Therefore, the commissioners should not be concerned with "grandfathering" in their restricted area designations.

Hopefully,  the commissioners heed this advice.

• 04/05/2024 - The Fairfield Board of County Commissioners recently mentioned they had commissioned a study regarding the toxicity of solar panels.  The report has now been published as an attachment to the meeting notes dated 03/29/2024.    The complete document containing the report can be found here.  The document is 482 pages, you will find the report beginning on page 34, with an Executive Summary on page 35.  The report is 51 pages in total.   The consultants summarize that it is highly unlikely that today's most commonly used solar panels would release metals harmful to the environment or contaminate groundwater in a solar "farm" setting (meaning while in use).

Also, a recording of the 4/2/2024 Fairfield Board of County Commissioners can be found here.  The public comments regarding Fairfield county solar projects begin at 28:30 and Commissioners Jeff Fix and Steve Davis' comments are at 1:06.  The news item below dated 04/02/2024 is in regards to this meeting.

• 04/02/2024 - The weekly meeting of the Fairfield County Board of Commissioners was a "packed house" due to the topic of industrial solar in Fairfield county, overwhelmingly attended by those  opposed to industrial solar in the county.   As noted below at last week's meeting the commissioners indicated they were starting the discussion of restricted areas for industrial solar in Fairfield county.  

At this meeting the commissioners indicated they would be producing a map identifying restricted areas for all 13 townships in the county, although it appears there may be areas of Walnut township where the Eastern-Cottontail project is currently being planned that may be excluded.  The reason given for excluding that area was due to likely litigation that would then ensue and the likely loss of such a case.   One may surmise this litigation concern is related to Senate Bill 52 that allows the commissioners to identify restricted areas but also allows for some projects in certain phases to be exempt - also called being "grandfathered-in".   But this is a contested point and there will certainly be more to come on this.

The exact timing of the publishing of the map wasn't perfectly clear, but it may be at the next commissioners meeting.  Note, there is a formal process for identifying restricted areas that is set out in Senate Bill 52, this has requirements and timelines regarding posting meeting notifications, etc.  For details please see the FAQ item titled "Did you know the County Commissioners can prohibit a project and restrict areas of the county from large wind and solar use?"

• 03/26/2024 - At the weekly meeting of the Fairfield County Board of Commissioners  it was announced they are beginning the discussion in regards to restricted areas for industrial solar in Fairfield county.   For approximately 2 years now they have received opposition to industrial solar from county residents, particularly in the affected areas where the potential of such projects has been discovered.  They are looking at all 13 townships in the county and at least 4 townships have already asked the commissioners to adopt resolutions identifying restricted areas.   They feel to develop land responsibly and to preserve land means to preserve land from industrial solar.  They are also concerned with protecting taxpayers, particularly in regards to possible litigation that may ensue in regards to identifying restricted areas.  Some projects may be at a point where litigation may not be fruitful compared to others, thus it appears they will consider the likelihood of winning litigation in their decisions.  The meeting was just for the commissioners to go on record that this discussion is beginning, and others will discuss the process and legal standpoint, etc.  So, stay tuned! And please remain vigilant and committed!  

See the "Did you know the County Commissioners can prohibit a project and restrict areas of the county from large wind and solar use?" topic on the FAQ page for details on identifying restricted areas by the commissioners.

• Mark your calendars for our “This Solar Thing” community open house and informational meeting.  There will be two sessions to accommodate your schedule Thursday, July 25th from 6-8PM and Saturday and July 27th from 9AM-noon.  These will be held at Cedar Hill Calvary UMC on Westfall Rd.  Many more details to follow, but mark your calendars!