Buckeye Reporter

A solar farm with a projected cost of $1 billion is set to be approved by the Ohio Power Siting Board on Thursday. The proposed site for the Oak Run Solar Project is approximately 25 miles west of Columbus, on land partially owned by Bill Gates. With an installed capacity of 800 megawatts, it would rank among the largest solar farms in the United States.

The project, under the management of Savion, LLC, has been in planning stages for nearly three years. In 2021, Shell New Energies US acquired Savion.

However, the project has sparked controversy in Madison County. According to a filing with the Ohio Power Siting Board, the Boards of Trustees for Deercreek, Monroe, and Somerford Townships requested that the "Board deny the certificate requested by Oak Run Solar Project, LLC for its solar powered electric generation station." They justified their request on grounds that "Oak Run Solar has not demonstrated that its Project achieves the standard in R.C. 4906.10(A)(3) with respect to the many harms that the Project will cause."

Resistance to the Oak Run Solar Project extends beyond local governance to include residents of Madison County. Some have even initiated a Facebook group titled 'Citizens opposing Oak Run solar project on Orleton Farm'. Patty Troyer, a resident of nearby London, Ohio expressed her concerns on this platform saying: "Panels will ruin farm ground. When they are gone, will or can the land be returned to the original condition!! I don't think so!"

Further opposition was voiced through a Change.org petition titled 'No Solar Panels on prime farm land', which currently boasts 476 signatures. Elisha Fisher explained her decision to sign because "You can’t make more beautiful farm land! Family farms need to continue, I don’t want to see fields of panels." Michael Vallery echoed this sentiment adding: "I believe in personal property rights but in this case with it having Bill Gates associated with it, I guess I thought they he and Melinda were concerned with feeding hungry children. How do you do that when you take 5000 acres of prime farmland out of production."

Resistance to the establishment of new solar farms is not limited to Madison County but has been widespread throughout rural Ohio. In November last year, a trustee in Tate Township lost his reelection bid due to his support for solar generation. The Buckeye Reporter states: "Rusty Durbin, a local farmer concerned about the development of solar farms in Clermont County, was elected as a trustee in Tate Township," defeating Bobby Reddin by capturing 54% of the vote. Upon learning about a proposed solar farm in Clermont County, Durbin said his wife was "ready to sell the farm, and I’m like, ‘I’m not selling the farm. We’re going to stand up.’"