Last year Columbus and Grove City residents voted in a landslide to transition their electricity supply to 100% renewable energy. Partly as a result of these victories, dozens of solar projects are being proposed in Ohio.
One of them is the Pleasant Prairie Solar Energy Center, a 250-megawatt solar project proposed for southwest Franklin County.
If approved, the Pleasant Prairie solar project would:
- Provide enough solar energy to power 49,593 homes
- Reduce carbon emissions equivalent to taking 54,358 cars off the road
- Lower pollution enough to cut health care costs by $75 million
- Create up to 800 construction jobs
- Generate $1.75 million in direct tax revenue per year for South-Western City Schools, Pleasant and Prairie Townships, Franklin County, Southwest Public Libraries, and local fire districts.
- Invest $4.4 million in over economic impact in our local community per year
If you support solar energy in Franklin County, we need your help to get the Pleasant Prairie solar project approved. Here are several things you can do — and we need them done quickly because the deadline is coming up.
- Submit a written comment
Submit a written comment in support of Pleasant Prairie Solar Energy Center with the Ohio Power Siting Board. You can send your comment to contactOPSB@puco.ohio.gov. Include your full name, home address, telephone number, and email address, as well as Case Number 20-1679-EL-BGN. We can help you write your comment. Here are talking points
- Testify at the public hearing
The Ohio Power Siting Board will hold a public hearing about the Pleasant Prairie Solar Energy Center on Monday, July 19, at 6 p.m. at Battelle Darby Creek Metro Park Nature Center, 1415 Darby Creek Drive, Galloway, Ohio 43119. This is an in-person hearing for people to provide spoken testimony about the project. You do not need to pre-register. Just show up and write your name in the attendance book. We can help you craft your testimony. We will have free Ready for 100 T-shirts! Here are talking points
- Attend an informational meeting
Invenergy, the project developer, will be holding two informational sessions — one on Sunday, July 18, at 4 p.m., and one on Monday, July 19, at 4 p.m. Both will be at the Darby Dan Farm, 801 Darby Creek Drive, Galloway. After the Monday meeting, everyone will go to the hearing at the Darby Creek Metropark Nature Center just down the street.
- Contact your township trustees
If you live in Pleasant or Prairie Township, please copy your township trustees on your written comments, your testimony, or both. You can also call them. Here is their contact info:
Prairie Township
Cathy Schmelzer, cschmelzer@prairietownship.org, 614-679-9485
Steve Kennedy, skennedy@prairietownship.org, 614-260-5090
Doug Stormont, dstormont@prairietownship.org, 614-209-9122
Pleasant Township
Randi Good, rgood@pleasanttownship.com, 614-316-0675
Ed Sheets, edsheets@aol.com, 614-746-4313
Nancy Hunter, nhunter@pleasanttownship.com, 614-878-0109
Additional links with more information
Pleasant Prairie Solar Energy Center website
https://pleasantprairiesolar.com
Talking points
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MTZpUzX3dPfNTisuPAPe1OteT5a92DGXVdbI7UehpiA/edit?usp=sharing
Case record at the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio
http://dis.puc.state.oh.us/CaseRecord.aspx?CaseNo=20-1679-EL-BGN
The renewable energy initiatives we passed in both Columbus and Grove City call for supplying our energy from construction of local solar and wind projects. Pleasant Prairie is just such a local project. It will create jobs, reduce pollution, improve public health, and invest millions both directly and indirectly into our local economy.
Please let us know if you have any questions or need any help in putting together your comments and testimony. Contact cleangrovecity@gmail.com.
solar energy should be come in Franklin County