In testimony before the Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB) Craig Adair, the project lead for Frasier Solar, admitted that comments to the OPSB in opposition to the proposed solar project outweighed those in support by a sizable margin.
The OPSB heard testimony in a public hearing on August 19 in the Columbus offices of the Ohio Public Utilities Commission. Parties to the case, in favor and in opposition to Frasier Solar, provided testimony and were cross examined.
Most of the 4,238 public comments on Frasier Solar received by the OPSB did not come from Knox County. Adair provided a tabulation of the received by the OPSB through August 15 which showed that only 896 of the comments came from Knox County. According to Adair, “Of the 896 comments submitted by Knox County residents, 345 comments (39%) are in support of the Project, while 551 comments (61%) express opposition to the Project.”
However, some of the residents of Knox County submitted multiple comments. Taking these into consideration, Adair acknowledged that “261 (41%) submitted comments in support of the Project while 371 (59%) submitted comments in opposition.”
The hearing was the final one before the OPSB makes its decision on whether to approve Fraser Solar’s application to build the project. Three hearings were held in Mt. Vernon in April and May to accommodate members of the public who wanted to testify before the OPSB.
Benjamin Dean also testified at the August 19 hearing. Dean lives in Knox County and represented Preserve Knox County Ohio. PKCO has 171 members, 165 of which live in Knox County. Forty-eight of the members, including Dean, live on property adjacent to the land that would be used for Frasier Solar.
“I am concerned about the impacts that dust during the Project’s construction and noise from construction and operation of the Project may have on the woods and our recreational activities there,” Dean stated in his written testimony. “The Project Area drains into my woods and into a creek on my land. I am concerned about whether increased drainage of surface water from the Project Area might impact the woods and creek.”
Like Adair, Dean also analyzed the written public comments relating to Frasier Solar. He created a dataset by obtaining all the public comments submitted to the OPSB.
“As of the end of the day on August 12, 2024, the number of Knox County residents who submitted comments opposing the Project outnumber the Knox County residents who submitted comments supporting the Project by a margin of 581 to 292, or 66.55% to 33.45%,” Dean testified.
Dean also examined the comments submitted by Miller and Clinton Township residents. Comments submitted by those in opposition to Frasier Solar outnumbered those in support by 132 to 25, or 84% to 16%.
His analysis included the Knox County residents who signed sheets opposing and supporting the Project at the public hearings in April and May.
“The number of Knox County residents signing sheets opposing the Project outnumbered the Knox County residents signing sheets supporting the Project by a margin of 221 to 78, or 73.9% to 26.1%,” Dean testified.
The amount of local support and opposition is significant because the OPSB has rejected past applications for solar projects based on local opposition. Two companies whose applications were rejected have appealed to the Ohio Supreme Court to have the OPSB’s decisions overturned.
