I am writing in response to a Letter to the Editor that recently ran in the Mount Vernon News. It is just one of the latest examples of misinformation being spread by a small, but vocal minority about the Frasier Solar project in Knox County.
The author of the letter asks Republican State Rep. Bill Seitz to “retract” his letter of support for the Frasier Solar Project.
First of all, as Rep. Seitz points out in his supportive letter, Frasier Solar was grandfathered under state legislation – Senate Bill 52, which allows projects not grandfathered to be denied by local politicians – and is therefore exempt from local government action.
There is also significant support for Frasier. Currently, on the Ohio Power Siting Board docket – which is where citizens can submit comments in support or opposition of the project – total comments in support of the project outnumber those in opposition by a nearly 2 to 1 margin, 2,718 to 1,509. Additionally, the public hearings for the project have demonstrated substantial local support as well.
Additionally, the March primary election was not a referendum on Frasier or utility-scale solar development. The author of the misinformation Letter to the Editor tries to equate every vote cast for the two anti-solar county commissioner candidates as a vote against Frasier Solar. Not only is this not correct, but even if one were to take this view, the 8,031 votes cast for these two candidates represent just 19% of the nearly 43,000 registered voters in the county.
The author of the misinformation Letter to the Editor also notes that townships in Knox County have passed resolutions requesting that the county commissioners create exclusion zones for utility-scale solar development. But, what the author does not mention is that many, if not most, of these townships did not do this in public hearings that allowed broad public input before a vote on the resolutions. Instead, they did so at the demand of a handful of anti-solar activists and an organization affiliated with a secretive, dark-money group funded by competing energy interests.
Frasier Solar is clearly in the public interest of Knox County residents and the state of Ohio as a whole. It will create jobs and economic activity locally, including generating $42.8 million of stable, guaranteed revenue for critical local services over 40 years. Nearly half of this revenue will go to Mount Vernon City School District. Furthermore, the project will support agriculture through a partnership with local sheep grazers that will produce a domestic agricultural export product on the same acreage as solar.
Regardless, whether a project is in the “public interest” is only one of eight statutory criteria the Ohio Power Siting Board is required to consider when deciding whether to approve or deny a proposed project. The board is also tasked with ensuring sufficient energy capacity for all Ohio citizens, and with promoting the state's economic interests, which require an affordable and reliable supply of electricity.
I stand with Rep. Seitz and appreciate his well-founded support for Frasier Solar. As a resident of Knox County, I agree with him when he wrote that Frasier Solar has long been actively working with and engaging the community. Importantly, he also points out that Frasier Solar will create local jobs, economically benefit local schools and the community, and aligns with the “all of the above” strategy to power our state.
Kathy Gamble
Mount Vernon, Ohio
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