Simulated View
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Simulated View
COLUMBUS — The Ohio Supreme Court on Tuesday issued a mixed ruling regarding the construction of a massive solar farm in Madison County, sending the case back to state regulators to better evaluate how the project will look to the public.
The state’s high court affirmed most of the Ohio Power Siting Board’s decisions regarding the Oak Run Solar Project. However, the justices reversed a portion of the board’s approval because the developer failed to provide the required visual sketches and photographic simulations of the planned substations.
Justice Pat Fischer wrote the majority opinion, stating that state regulators did not get the necessary visual descriptions from the developer. The court ruled that the board needed these images to properly evaluate how the project would affect views from public vantage points.
The legal challenge was brought by a coalition of local governments, including the Madison County Board of Commissioners and the trustees of Deercreek, Monroe, and Somerford townships. Local officials argued that state regulators approved the project without gathering enough information to make an informed decision.
While the court’s majority rejected most of the local governments’ arguments regarding water safety and wildlife, the decision temporarily halts full approval until the visual data is reviewed.
The Oak Run project is designed to be a first-of-its-kind solar farm that combines renewable energy production with active farming, an approach known as agrivoltaics. The planned facility would span more than 6,000 acres of agricultural land in rural Madison County, southwest of Columbus. It is also slated to feature a battery-energy storage system consisting of 328 large battery containers across roughly 11 acres.
The court’s decision highlighted deep divisions among the justices regarding how much information a utility developer must provide before receiving a state construction certificate.
In a partial dissent, Justice Jennifer Brunner argued that the court should have also required the developer to submit baseline water-quality measurements and comprehensive wildlife surveys before the project could move forward. Brunner noted that the construction involves grading approximately 500 acres of farmland, which could cause soil erosion into nearby streams that flow into the Big Darby Creek watershed.
Brunner also expressed concern over the safety plans for the large battery facility, which is expected to use lithium-ion technology. Evidence presented during the case showed that if the battery facility catches fire, it cannot be easily extinguished with water and must be allowed to burn out. Such fires can release hazardous gases into the atmosphere.
The developer had promised to submit a detailed emergency-response plan to the state later and to provide equipment and training to local firefighters. The state board originally approved the project on the condition that those promises be kept.
Brunner criticized that approach, writing that expecting local governments to wait for vital safety information amounts to shifting the legal burden away from the developer. She argued that environmental data and safety plans should be fully reviewed by the public and regulators before construction is authorized, rather than letting a company figure out the details as the project evolves.
The high court’s majority maintained that state law allows regulators to issue certificates with conditions that developers must meet later during construction. The court found that the lack of baseline water and wildlife studies did not legally prejudice the local governments because other evidence suggested minimal impacts. The lack of visual models, however, violated explicit state administrative rules.
The case now returns to the Ohio Power Siting Board. Regulators must obtain the missing photographic simulations and sketches from the developer and conduct further proceedings to address the visual impacts of the project on the surrounding community.
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