The 2,768-acre Fountain Point Solar Energy Center is proposed by Invenergy for Bokescreek and Rushcreek townships.
Several hundred Logan County residents packed into the Benjamin Logan High School auditorium back in December for a public hearing for the 2,768-acre Fountain Point Solar Energy Center proposed by Invenergy.
Approximately 70 individuals provided sworn testimonies for the Ohio Power Siting Board hearing that continued for six straight hours, until after 11 p.m.
A large majority voiced their strong opposition to the solar-powered electric generating facility proposed for Bokescreek and Rushcreek townships and the impact the the industrial-scale project would have on the rural farm community. At the same time, some speakers also called for its approval by the OPSB, noting the future opportunities and funding it could provide for Logan County.
With all of the public momentum built up surrounding this issue in the second half of 2022, those in attendance and others might wonder, what happened to this highly-charged project and is it still moving forward?
It’s a question that Paul Schaller and Kara Slonecker from the Citizens Against Fountain Point LLC often receive. While the next step in the legal process for Fountain Point Solar Energy Center — the evidentiary hearing — was initially scheduled for January, it has been rescheduled twice. It is now slated to take place next week in Columbus.
Schaller and Slonecker note that members of the public can attend the hearing, which begins at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 15, at the offices of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, Hearing Room 11-A, 180 E. Broad St., Columbus, and likely will continue for several days thereafter.
To participate in the hearing, parties and observers should register at the lobby desk and proceed to the 11th floor.
During the evidentiary hearing, the applicant, OPSB staff, and intervening parties provide expert testimony and evidence regarding the facility and cross-examine each other.
Those who have filed requests to act as interveners will be able to speak at the hearing. The public can attend the proceedings, but will not able to speak unless they are an intervener for this case.
Interveners for the case include: Schaller; Slonecker; Jeny Hammer; Jocelyn Kavanagh; Logan County Board of Commissioners; Rushcreek Township Board of Trustees; the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation; and Citizens Against Fountain Point LLC, Brent Vermillion, Jim Culp, Jocelyn Kavanagh, Alyssa Rice, Cliff Cronkleton, and Anthony Cogossi, according to the Staff Report for Fountain Point Solar Energy Center, which was released Nov. 29.
The two representatives from Citizens Against Fountain Point LLC noted the many public comments that have been submitted in opposition to the project on the OPSB’s website, totaling about 1,400 out of approximately 1,500 total comments, that should carry some weight with the OPSB.
Along with the public opposition, they noted that Rushcreek Township, the Logan County Commissioners and several state representatives are among those opposing the project in the official case documents. The case is available to view at the OPSB’s website, www.OPSB.ohio.gov, by searching the case number, 21-1231-EL-BGN.
Among the many concerns with the project detailed by citizens and public officials, Citizens Against Fountain Point LLC said they are focusing on the OPSB criteria that the facility does not “serve the public interest, convenience, and necessity,” Schaller and Slonecker noted.
“The only real way for the community to stop this project is by hammering home this criteria,” Schaller previously said. “It is hard for me to argue with the majority of the determining criteria, because I can not possibly afford to conduct the studies costing millions of dollars that Invenergy submitted in order to fact check them.”
“We’re fighting a billion dollar corporation,” Slonecker said.
Once the hearing is complete, the nine-member OPSB board will vote at one of its monthly meetings to either approve or deny the project application.
“They say within 90 days, we should know whether or not it is approved,” Slonecker said.
Provisions in Senate Bill 52 incorporate two local ad hoc members on the OPSB board who will be able able to cast their votes on the project. The Board of Logan County Commissioners appointed Michael E. Yoder as its ad hoc member on the board, and the boards of trustees of Bokescreek and Rushcreek townships appointed Jeff Spencer as its ad hoc member.