PILOT in the pipeline

Chris Shears, the chief development officer for EverPower, and local project manager Jason Dagger said the company has filed formal paperwork with the Ohio Development Services Agency to request a payment in lieu of taxes for the Logan County portion of the project.

While the filing has not yet reached the local level, ODSA spokesman Todd Walker confirmed receipt of the company’s request, but said the agency still is reviewing the filing to make sure it meets all requirements.

If the state development agency approves it, it will be forwarded to the local commissioners who will have 30 days to decide whether to support or reject the request. No action is the same as a denial. 

During and after the Tuesday meeting, Commissioner Dustin Wickersham continued to toe the line that a decision would not be made until the request has been formally submitted.

“When we receive this from the ODSA, we will have a public meeting and we will talk with the school boards and townships and then we will make our decision,” Mr. Wickersham said.

The PILOT request only affects the 18 turbines in Logan County, while EverPower is free to begin construction on the remaining 87 turbines in southern Hardin County, which formerly was dedicated an alternative energy zone and commissioners there do not need to approve a PILOT request.

While a PILOT is not a must for the project, the 18 turbines in Richland and Rushcreek townships would be taxed under existing utility tax rates.

Mr. Shears, however, said after the meeting that if the Logan County Commissioners do not approve the request, the 18 towers in Logan County will not be built but the remaining towers in Hardin County will continue forward.

“No. We won’t proceed,” he said in response to a question. “We would work very hard to proceed in Hardin County, but not in Logan.

“The issues raised here today against wind development — we’re acutely aware of them and we welcome anyone to come see one of our operations from the ground.”

He reiterated those comments in his brief presentation to the commissioners.

“In Logan (county), from my point of view, the question is: Are the remaining turbines that were not part of the settlement — will they be part of the project or not?” he said. “We’d love for them to be involved; we think as a wind energy company that there’s benefits those turbines would bring both in terms of investment in clean energy and the payments from the PILOT structure.

“We are going to be moving forward in Hardin County and we would love to have the turbines in Logan as well,” Mr. Shears said. “I would contend to you that the value of what the project would bring would be a significant benefit to the community.”

Opposition voice

Members of the Fight the Wind organization, which opposes wind developments in Logan County, were also given equal time to present their side of the debate. Kathleen Kinney Davis of Rushcreek Township delivered a prepared address in which she said she turned down a request years ago to sign a lease to place a turbine on her own land.

She hammered on the idea that EverPower, which owned by the British capital investment firm Terra Firma, is trying to sell the tax credit using public relations tactics, but the bulk of the profits will leave not only the local area but the nation as well.

Members of the Fight the Wind group, which opposes wind turbine development in Logan County, hold signs and congregate outside the Colonial Building where the Logan County Commissioners were preparing to meet to discuss the Scioto Ridge Wind Farm on Tuesday morning. (EXAMINER PHOTO | REUBEN MEES)

“This formulaic seduction and deception by foreign investors is the same everywhere,” Ms. Davis said in her lengthy remarks. “Appeals include the altruistic purpose of the projects coupled with various promises, including financial gain. Save the planet. Save the farm. Harvest the wind. Reduce carbon dioxide. Temporary and full-time local jobs. Infrastructure. Better roads. Be progressive. No disadvantages. Money for landowners. Money for schools. Money for townships. Money for commissioners. 

“Although the spin, PR, and promises of wind are romantic and seductive, the reality is harsh, even devastating. And, not just to those within an industrial wind project. Anyone who buys electricity. Anyone who has political or legal responsibilities. Anyone who desires to have peaceful, transparent relationships within their community. Anyone who just wants to do anything on their property.”

She also said a decision to allow a few wind turbines would open the door to more in the future that would make Logan County a final link in a chain of wind turbines from Champaign to Van Wert counties.

“As Logan County Commissioners, you do not have the power to stop SR from being built — even in Logan County,” Ms. Davis said. “However, please don’t welcome EverPower with granting a PILOT, thereby setting a precedent. The recorder’s website confirms that around the county landowners are eager to sign leases — the evidence of leases in Monroe and Zane townships provide a pathway to connecting with Paulding, Van Wert, Auglaize, Hardin, Logan, Champaign — blanketing them with turbines is a goal of if not EverPower, then other federal subsidy recipients.”

Her 12 pages of prepared comments are available here.

Tax impact

Many individual townships and villages have passed resolutions opposing wind development, although the township could receive a portion of the PILOT payments if they are approved.

The biggest recipient, however, would be the Benjamin Logan School District, which stands to collect upward of $700,000 a year if the project is completed. Of that, EverPower has said $500,000 would come from the portion of the project in Hardin County, while the Logan County portion would provide about $200,000 a year, Ben Logan Superintendent David Harmon said after the meeting.

The district, however, has not taken a position pro or con, he said.

“I’m here to gather information for the board and report back to the board,” Mr. Harmon said. “We’re not for or against it, we just want to make sure we have all the information that is available.”