Senate Passes McColley Bill Giving Local Residents Voice on Wind and Solar Projects

COLUMBUS—State Senators Rob McColley (R-Napoleon) and Bill Reineke (R-Tiffin) announced the passage of Senate Bill 52 this week by the Ohio Senate, giving local officials and residents the ability to decide whether a solar or wind development project is a good fit for their community. "Unfortunately, there have been energy projects across the state that have faced unanimous opposition in their area of operation, yet were still allowed to proceed," McColley said. "This bill will allow for developers and local elected officials to cooperate and find amicable solutions to these projects." Under this bill, the project developer must notify the County Commissioners and township trustees of the project no later than 90 days before being filed with the Ohio Power Siting Board. County Commissioners would then be able to either allow the project to proceed, deny the project, or limit the geographic area of the project. The bill would also allow a Board of County Commissioners to proactively ban or limit the area of wind or solar projects within their county. "As our state's economy grows and evolves, the desire for renewable energy will not go away," Reineke said. "This bill does not prevent these protects from taking place, it simply allows local communities to decide if they want these projects in there area." Senate Bill 52 will now be sent to the Ohio House for further consideration. For more information on the bill, click here. To watch Senator McColley's floor speech from today, click here.