840-acre Knox County solar farm approved; opponents promise to continue fight

MOUNT VERNON, Ohio (WCMH) -- A two-year debate is inching closer to its finale as a solar project has been approved in central Ohio.

It’s been the subject of multiple NBC4 Investigations and while the project may be approved, the controversy has not stopped.

The Frasier Solar project has been approved in Knox County and will cover 840 acres and produce enough energy to power the equivalent of 14,000 homes for a year. However, while the Ohio Power Siting Board has approved the project, the fight is nowhere near finished.

"My immediate reaction was relief,” Debbie Wells, who lives across from the proposed project, said. “I was just relieved because it's been, what? Going on a two year back and forth.”

Wells lives right across from part of the proposed site and supports the project.

"Mostly because of the alternative, right out my front window would have been a lot of houses on this narrow road, a lot of traffic," Wells said. 

Supporters have pointed to the renewable energy aspect, Frasier Solar’s commitment to have sheep grazing for vegetation management on the project land, and the more-than $19 million that will go to district schools. That’s part of the payment in lieu of taxes program that gives renewable energy companies a tax exemption in exchange for making fixed payments to host communities.

"I'm hoping that the community pulls together and moves forward," Wells said. 

Opponents said the glare off the panels could impact the local airport and they want the farmland to remain untouched.

"I think one of the things that did not get appreciated by the staff report in our case as much as it should have been appreciated or acknowledged, would be the strength of the opposition in the community," Preserve Knox County Ohio member Ben Dean said.

Preserve Knox County Ohio is one of the groups that have come out against the project since the beginning. Dean said the fight doesn’t end here.

"We'll probably request the rehearing and if that doesn't go the way we want it to, which again, likely, I mean, we're being realistic about this,” he said. “Knowing how these projects work, probably won't go the way we want, but we're still going to go for it probably. The next step would be to appeal to the state supreme court.”

While both sides find it hard to agree on much, they do agree on the importance of community input.

"Things like this are not really challenges or issues that community members really want to have to deal with, but when something like this comes your direction, it's important that you take a stand," Dean said. 

"They're going to have to do their own work and find out the facts for themselves, rein in your emotions, and just go with what's really true," Wells said.

One Miller Township trustee who said he is very against the project expects the opposition groups to follow through with the appeal process. Much of the project would be in this township.

Open Road Renewables said the project’s progress will depend on whether there is an appeal.