Buckeye Reporter

The City of Lebanon, Ohio announced that it is expanding its municipally-owned utility service offerings to include solar power. In its Oct. 23 release, the city said that it had selected Kokosing Solar as the "Design-Build Partner" to complete the project.

The Lebanon Solar Power Project, which will be located on three City-owned properties comprising 41 acres, is projected to cost $13.4 million and have a generation capacity of almost 10 megawatts. The average national U.S. capacity factor for solar is 24.4 percent, but the capacity factor in Ohio is below average. This means that the expected generation capacity of the Lebanon Solar Power Project will be 2.4 megawatts or less, according to the S&P Global Market Intelligence.

According to Lebanon's website, the city believes the solar project will save both the city and its customers money. Brady Phillips, the Director of Solar Operations for Kokosing Solar, said “The project exemplifies how environmental stewardship and financial benefit can co-exist.

Downtown Lebanon, Ohio | Lebanon website

However, the savings for Lebanon and its residents is being financed by U.S. taxpayers. The financial benefit comes through the federal Investment Tax Credit, which offers a 30 percent tax credit on federal income taxes for investors in solar projects. The project could cost U.S. taxpayers as much as $4 million, according to Energy.gov.

The developer for the Lebanon Solar Power Project is Enel, which develops and operates wind and solar farms across the globe. In the United States, Enel has 68 sites across 14 states producing energy from wind, solar, and geothermal generation with 9.4 gigawatts of potential generation capacity. And it has another six solar projects, including in Lebanon, under development. The Lebanon site will be the company's second solar operation in the Midwest.

Federal subsidies for wind and solar differ. Solar farms get tax credits based on investment, while wind farms get tax credits based on production. While it is difficult to estimate the total tax credits over the life of different wind and solar projects, Enel could be in line for several billion dollars in federal tax credits over the years.

According to the Bowling Green Utilities' website, Lebanon is not the only city in Ohio seeking to utilize electricity from renewable generation facilities. Bowling Green, for instance, already receives electricity from both wind and solar farms. In 2017, the city began receiving electricity from a 165-acre solar generating facility on property owned by the city. It also houses Ohio's first utility-scale wind farm, which consists of four 391 feet tall turbines. The capacity of the wind farm was reduced one of the turbines was retired in 2021 because of the cost of potential repairs.