Is the Future Bright for Solar Farms?

The Ohio Supreme Court is set to decide the fate of a handful of solar farm projects. This, as the state already leads the nation in the number of projects rejected while facing a need for affordable electricity. Cincinnati is seeing success with its solar farm, originally the largest among municipalities. But plenty of others are putting on the brakes, not wanting to give up fertile farmland.  

Interview guests: Ollie Kroner, Director of the Cincinnati Office of Environment & Sustainability; Cincinnati Energy Manager Rob McCracken; Rick Lohnes, Clark County Commissioner; Bill Agle, Clark County farmer and Adam Sokolski, EDF Renewables Director of Regulatory and Legislative Affairs.  

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Transcript

Ann Thompson:

Both electricity demand and residential bills are soaring. Thank data centers in part for the double digit utility bill increase in Ohio. Can the sun help? 

Ann Thompson:

So you mentioned all the advantages of the solar farm. When will you be able to tell if it's making a difference or is it already making a difference?

Ollie Kroner:

Oh, it's absolutely already making a difference. I mean, this provides enough power for about 25,000 homes, and that is clean, carbon-free energy.

Ann Thompson:

Ohio regulators have approved 49 solar farm projects. This man promotes the largest one.

Adam Sokolski:

There's a million positives about a large solar project like Fox Squirrel.

Ann Thompson:

Meanwhile, farmer Bill Agle isn't against solar, but doesn't want it on his property or any other fertile farmland.

Bill Agle:

Our group feels like solar should go on brownfields and should go on top of these mega warehouses that we're seeing popping up everywhere that are bigger than four football fields.

Ann Thompson:

Agle lives in Clark County where residents are fighting back and have a temporary ban on solar farms. Commissioner Rick Lohnes knows communities can benefit financially, but says it's not worth it.

Rick Lohnes:

Personally, philosophically, I couldn't tolerate raising money destroying good farmland.

Ann Thompson:

On this episode, solar farms, residents weigh the costs. Communities look at the impact, and solar farm developers see green. Let's get into it. This is Brick by Brick, solutions for a thriving community.

Ame Clase:

Brick by Brick is made possible thanks to leading support from Greater Cincinnati Foundation, AES Foundation and George and Margaret McLane Foundation, with additional major support from Laurie    Johnston, The Robert & Adelle Schiff Family Foundation, Murray and Agnes Seasongood Good Government Foundation and more. Thank you

Ann Thompson:

Hello, and welcome to Brick by Brick, where we're highlighting solutions for a thriving community in Southwest Ohio. I'm your host, Ann Thompson. Cincinnati, like so many other cities, has an increasing need for electricity, where the average bill is about $150 a month. How can the city effectively lower that cost and go carbon neutral in 10 years? To get answers to those questions and more, Brick by Brick traveled 50 miles to the east, where in 2024, Cincinnati opened the largest municipal solar farm in the US. 

Ann Thompson:

I'm standing here in Highland County, surrounded by more than 300,000 solar panels on 800 acres. That's about the size of 700 football fields. The man behind the green is Ollie Kroner. He's Cincinnati's Director of the Office of Environment and Sustainability. So Ollie, look around in the midst of all these solar panels. What were you thinking when you came here the first time when they were all installed?

Ollie Kroner:

You spend so much time dreaming and planning and to arrive here and to see the steel in the ground, the panels in action, sunny day, and know that this is a major player in our clean energy transition and everything we're trying to achieve to address the climate crisis in Cincinnati. It's a reminder that we can make big things happen, we can make hard things happen, and it feels really good.

Ann Thompson:

Cincinnati has a goal, I was reading, of 100% renewable energy by 2035. When did you decide this here, solar panels was part of the solution, and how did you come to that conclusion?

Ollie Kroner:

Our team is focused on the climate crisis and how it will impact city government and our operations, how it will impact businesses in the region, and people who live here. And we know that the climate crisis is driven by combustion of fossil fuels. So in order to find our way out of this challenge, we need to add more clean energy, and solar is a major part of that solution, and it's probably the solution that we have the easiest access to. So the team set a vision, and actually it was Mayor Cranley at the time, said, "We should really do this on our airport." And so we put on an RFP and we had different vendors submit concepts. Turns out that the airport is in a floodplain, won't work, but some of the responses came back and said, "Actually, we could do this at a much larger scale, much more cost effective, go bigger with your dream." And so here we are, a hundred megawatts of solar power that feeds into the grid and powers city government buildings and the homes of Cincinnati.

Ann Thompson:

Yeah. And you did go big. So at the time at least, this was the largest municipal solar farm in the country. Give us a sense, and you started to, with all the planning that went into it.

Ollie Kroner:

Yeah. I mean, initially it was exploratory. We had buildings that we controlled that we thought would lend themselves to solar development, and we've moved forward with some of those projects, but to achieve the scale that we need for this clean energy transition, we have to think bigger. And this was years in the making, right? Partners came forward, had site control, had a vision of how solar could be installed here and be delivered via transmission and distribution lines into the urban core of Cincinnati, and we needed a financial model to do so. So we found a way through what is called a power purchase agreement to use the money we already spend on energy and rather than purchase from the grid as it exists today or as it existed then, fund this project. So no additional spend. This is a privately owned, privately operated solar field, but we received the power at a negotiated price that is less than what we would pay for energy otherwise.

Ann Thompson:

So who is benefiting from new market solar and what kind of money is the city seeing?

Ollie Kroner:

Well, there's tremendous benefits. Moving away from fossil fuels is a core part of the mission. That means air quality improvements, that means addressing climate change. We locked in pricing that is below market pricing today. So people are complaining about their energy bills. We're watching utility prices go up and up and up, but here we don't have to worry about that because we locked in pricing that saves more and more and more. So we see this as a key step towards our vision for 100% clean energy, and we seek to do it again and again, and again, in bite-sized ways that will ultimately transition us away from fossil fuels and provide carbon-free electricity.

Ann Thompson:

And another way is your plans to break ground on an urban solar farm. Tell us about that project and its timetable.

Ollie Kroner:

That's right. That's the most exciting thing in our world right now. We have an old landfill in the center of Cincinnati that has sat dormant for decades. We've tried to find other economic developments that were viable, and it turns out that it's very hard to do anything with the landfill. It's settling, there's some methane release. You don't want people living on it. So as we thought about our climate action strategy and the assets that we have, we began to pursue a solar farm on top of these 65 acres of old landfill. So that'll produce about 10 megawatts of solar power in the urban core that will power initially our city facilities and down the road could also potentially power the homes of Cincinnati.

Ann Thompson:

Yeah. And in that particular neighborhood, I'm not sure if this is the way it works, there are people that could use help with their energy bells.

Ollie Kroner:

Absolutely. I mean, I wouldn't want to live right next to a landfill and I don't think many people would. So if we can turn this from a liability into an asset that helps feed energy at a reduced cost into the neighboring communities, that is the big vision.

Ann Thompson:

Yeah. As we've mentioned, Cincinnati has this goal of being a hundred percent renewable or having 100% renewable energy by 2035. Will you meet that goal and what gives you hope?

Ollie Kroner:

We're certainly trying. A project like this gives us a viable model. We'll now add the Center Hill solar array. We are in negotiations for a project that is somewhat similar to this. So if we can continue to take these steps and add more clean energy generation and now begin to add utility scale batteries to store the energy so it can be used when it's not producing energy, you can see how step by step we can march towards the vision of 100% clean energy.

Ann Thompson:

You heard Ollie say Cincinnati is in negotiation for another large scale solar farm. Details to come. You might wonder how effective the one they already have is. And for that, we turn to Cincinnati's Energy Manager, Rob McCracken. Do you know how much people who participate in this program are saving? I guess it depends on how expensive their utility bill is.

Rob McCracken:

Yeah, that's a great question. Over the last seven years of the aggregation program, residents have saved 13% relative to Duke's rate. So right now, the solar PPA is saving us a little bit on our aggregation rate, but we think certainly going forward as electricity rates continue to increase, because this is a fixed rate for the next 20 years, we're going to see increasing benefits over time.

Ann Thompson:

Like Cincinnati, Philadelphia built a solar farm to power a quarter of its city buildings. WHYY reports, the 230,000 solar arrays near Gettysburg bring the city's electricity use to 30% renewable with 100% goal by 2030. Here's another example. Nine separate public housing authorities in Rhode Island are powered by solar farms in what may become a national model. Forbes reports that the energy generated by three solar installations is sold on the grid. Then a consortium of public housing authorities buys this power at a low fixed price set by a long-term contract, and any excess power is sold to others at market rate through a net metering plan. Coming up on Brick by Brick, opposition around Ohio builds, why some farmers are saying no to solar farms.

Bill Agle:

And I've had multiple solar companies send me letters, phone calls, people stopping at my door, trying to buy access to this property.

Ann Thompson:

That's next on Brick by Brick.

Ame Clase:

Brick by Brick is made possible thanks to the generous support of so many, including Diane and Dave Moccia, P & G, The Camden Foundation,  The Stephen H. Wilder Foundation, TJ and Susie Ackermann, Patti and Fred Heldman, a donation in memory of Frank and Margaret Linhardt, and more. Thank you. We couldn't do this work without you.

Mark Lammers:

The needs of our communities are delivered through systems, such as the electrical grid by power suppliers, water , sanitation and so on. Making these systems more efficient, safe and affordable are goals we can probably all agree are worthwhile. Hi, I’m Mark Lammers, executive producer of Brick by Brick. This exploration of the benefits, drawbacks, limitations as well as the potential of solar farms is the type of solutions story we love to share, because the energy transition is still taking shape and it can be confusing. We hope this episode is bringing things into more focus as you weigh the issues. Remember, it’s your voice, the community voice, that can help define the direction we get together. If you want to share your reflections on this solution, or any we’ve covered, we’d love to hear from you. You can click on the link in the show notes to take a short survey, or you can even email us directly at brick by brick at public media connect dog org, that’s brick by brick at public media connect dot org. While I wait for that, let’s get back to the solutions.

Ann Thompson:

Welcome back to Brick by Brick. Cincinnati's new market solar in Highland County is one of 22 operational solar farms around the state. 14 more have been approved and are under construction. The approval process involves the Ohio Power Siting Board. The agency investigates and holds evidentiary hearings. Senate Bill 52 granted county commissioner oversight. The legislation also gives two local representatives voting powers. After the board's decision, each case is subject to a two-step appeal process. The Ohio Power Siting Board and the State Supreme Court. Because an increasing number of counties are banning solar farms, three dozen so far, including parts of Claremont and Butler, Ohio is seen as a test state. Springfield's Clark County has a temporary ban. That's where farmer Bill Egel's family has lived for five generations.

Bill Agle:

Our farm's called Beaverdale Farms. My grandparents named it that when they were here and we've just stuck with the name.

Ann Thompson:

Which one of these barns did you have to rebuild when the tornado came through?

Bill Agle:

Well, the barn here, this says Beaverdale on it. It got flattened. I had a 70 foot silo, five grain bins, a grain elevator leg, and all those blew over. And when they blew over, the elevator lake landed on the existing machine shed. So we had to build a new barn there. The cow barn here, the roof's not the same color because half the roof was blown off and the other half was still intact. My house, this is all new roofing and vinyl siding and shutters from the tornado. It was really devastating.

Ann Thompson:

I bet. That was in 2024.

Bill Agle:

Yeah. February 28th of 2024.

Ann Thompson:

You know the day. 

Bill Agle:

Day of Infamy.

Ann Thompson:

So where are the fields that you farm?

Bill Agle:

Well, a lot of them are just- 

Ann Thompson:

Over here? 

Bill Agle:

All these fields, our family farms, the cattle, some of the cattle are here. We have pasture back through here. So everything right down through this stretcher here between South Vienna and Plattsburgh, we farm about all of it.

Ann Thompson:

You love this land. I can tell.

Bill Agle:

I told my financial planner one time, he was talking about money and he was saying, "Well, you need to do this or you need to do that. " And I said, "I wanted to buy a farm and another farm." He said, "Well, I'd rather see you invest your money in the stock market." And I said, "I love my land. I don't love my money."

Ann Thompson:

He loves his land so much that he and his wife, Polly, have preserved all 650 acres through the Tecumseh Land Trust in Yellow Springs. That prevents it from ever being developed and designates it as farmland. His decision follows three or four years of hounding from solar developers in Florida, California and Canada to lease it. He and others are fighting a project just down the road, the Sloopy Solar Energy Center. It received initial approval before Clark County's temporary ban. Agle isn't against solar. He just doesn't want it put on fertile farmland. Bill and I walk into his dining area labeled the war room. This is where community members meet weekly to plot their opposition. 

Bill Agle:

Well, this table was built out of beams that came out of one of our barns and I had a craftsman build this table for us. It's a family table. We sit around here every Wednesday night. Our group called Harmony Farmland Preservation Coalition. We sit here and we've talked about legislation. We've talked about how do we get hold of our congressmen and our senators and different people to help us try and oppose this.

Ann Thompson:

Clark County Commissioner Rick Lohnes is used to a fight. He was an Air Force pilot retiring as the wing commander of the 178th fighter wing in Springfield. Lohnes wasn't in office when the county commission voted to ban solar farms through September 2027.

Rick Lohnes:

Well, on my way out the door, I was shaking my finger at them that you guys got to jump on this Senate Bill 52 thing before somebody gets grandfathered.

Ann Thompson:

Lohnes is back as an appointed commissioner and voted to oppose the Sloopy Solar Energy Center. The county is now suing. Somebody who is for it might say like, "Hey, the county is giving up 1.5 million a year by you and others opposing it. " How could you still get that type of revenue from something else?

Rick Lohnes:

Well, I'm not sure personally that the county governments should be looking to raise money. And personally, philosophically, I couldn't tolerate raising money destroying good farmland.

Ann Thompson:

Back outside, farmer Bill and I hop on his Gator truck and drive down the road to see the sight of this proposed solar project.

Bill Agle:

This field here is the one I wanted you to see. Now, when you talk about prime farmland, that's as good as it gets out through there. It's flat. I'll pull over here off the road where we can sit and talk. And you can kind of get a view of it. This is some of the part that they said would have panels. That'll all be black plastic panels clear down through there.

Ann Thompson:

That's something that you don't really want to picture?

Bill Agle:

No. Neither do these people. See their signs down there and down here. They got “no solar on prime farmland.” And farmland like that is irreplaceable. I mean, there's only 3% of the world that is what they call prime farmland. Brazil's got some and United States has got some, but 98% of this project, our Clark Soil and Water District used USDA soil studies and they said 98% of this project is prime farmland. That's why we don't want to see it destroyed.

Ann Thompson:

Bill knows by not leasing his farm to solar, he's giving up a lot of guaranteed income, maybe $1,000 an acre or more. That's one of the big draws for farmers who have plenty of down years. One county over about 50 miles away is Fox Squirrel Solar. This Madison County's solar facility is Ohio's largest and among the biggest east of the Mississippi, with 1.4 million solar panels spread across 3,400 acres. Developer and owner of Fox Squirrel Solar is EDF Power Solutions, where Adam Sokolski is director of regulatory and legislative affairs. Thanks for being here, Adam.

Adam Sokolski:

My pleasure.

Ann Thompson:

Adam, you have projects all over the world, including western states like California and Arizona where there's a lot of sun. Why was Ohio attractive to you?

Adam Sokolski:

Ohio is a very attractive market for all types of energy. Ohio for solar is particularly attractive because Ohio has a lot of manufacturing, a lot of demand for electricity. So that makes Ohio a good place to build solar. Ohio has vast ounce of land that are flat, that are not super rocky, making solar an appropriate land use for energy development. Finally, their piece about Ohio is a lot of local landowners are really interested in building solar on their lands and partnering with a company like EDF to develop and own and operate facilities on their existing land. So the partnership between community and landowner and the need for electricity in the Ohio market.

Ann Thompson:

Did you have any problems in the planning stages getting the proper permitting in the state?

Adam Sokolski:

Fox Squirrel is an example of a project in Ohio that went really, really, really well. We had great community input during the development process. We had great community and government support from Madison County during the permitting process after we finished development. And that translated through to a successful site permit application to the Ohio Power Siting Board, which is the statewide jurisdiction that approves and regulates large power facilities like Fox Squirrel Solar.

Ann Thompson:

One hurdle for some is convincing residents that solar projects are a good thing. What are the positives and how do you go about bringing people on board?

Adam Sokolski:

There's a million positives about a large solar project like Fox Squirrel. I think of a number of things. First of all, landowners who are hosting part of the solar project are able to diversify their incomes. Most of these folks are farmers and they rely on row crops for their annual revenues. We know that's a very volatile way to make a living. A solar project helps a landowner, a farmer, kind of hedge against some of that volatility by creating a stable source of income from their land that is in excess of what they would make farming corn or beans or other products. And so for the landowner, it's a really great deal. For the community, the community receives pilot payments, payment in lieu of taxes, essentially a property tax payment. Typically, it's fixed at about $9,000 per megawatt of installed capacity, and that comes to the community in the form of essentially a tax payment every year.

At Fox Coral, that's $5.2 million a year of new funding for local units of government. And those local units of government can use that funding any way they choose. They can cut taxes with that money. They can invest in new infrastructure or cover services for their residents that they might not currently cover. So it's a great way to inject a lot of new wealth and income into the community without imposing any cost on the community.

Ann Thompson:

So you mentioned that you're paying Madison County $5.2 million a year. How much do you pay landowners?

Adam Sokolski:

Well, those figures, of course, are confidential. It's highly, highly competitive market out there. And so we don't disclose what we're paying to an individual landowner either individually or as a group. And so we keep those numbers confidential to ensure that we're able to compete in the marketplace.

Ann Thompson:

We've heard, not necessarily in Madison County, but just generally, that people can make between one to $2,000 an acre. Is that reasonable or in the ballpark?

Adam Sokolski:

I think that's in the ballpark.

Ann Thompson:

Describe the Fox Squirrel project and how much power it provides.

Adam Sokolski:

The Fox Squirrel Project is a large utility scale solar project. We have installed 577 megawatts of AC or alternating current capacity at that project. So 577 megawatts is a lot. It's one of the biggest solar projects east of the Mississippi River.

Ann Thompson:

Is EDF renewables involved in any other solar projects in Ohio?

Adam Sokolski:

Yeah, absolutely. We just were issued a permit for a different project called Eastern Cottontail, a smaller project, 220 megawatts over in Fairfield County. Power Siting board issued us a permit back last fall of 2025, and that project is now going through the appeals process before the Ohio Supreme Court, fairly typical for most projects. That project has a potential commercial operation date in 2028 or 2029. We've not announced any customer or construction start date on that project as of yet.

Ann Thompson:

What do you see as the future of solar farms? And do you anticipate problems in convincing officials and other states to allow you to develop?

Adam Sokolski:

Future for solar farms is very, very bright. Solar is the least cost new form of electric generation that we have in the United States of America. For customers like utilities or large energy users are able to essentially lock in the price of electricity when they buy electricity from a solar farm through a power purchase agreement like we have at Fox Squirrel. And that allows the customer to prevent or manage electricity price inflation and volatility. That's a really important product that utilities and large energy users value, and we see that trend to continue. Is it difficult to convince regulators? It can be in some cases. There can be challenges in siding projects. We've seen that across the country. And the flip side is EDF knows how to build projects and build community support. We've been doing this for over 30 years here in the United States.

We know how to gauge a community, how to engage a community well, well before we're even trying to lease land, and talk to community members about the benefits of a renewable energy project in their neighborhood. Does that mean every project's going to be a slam dunk? No. There can be controversies. There can be situations where you can't generate enough landowner interest. That happens. It's a normal part of development and EDF will walk away from projects at times when we don't have enough either community support or landowner support to build a project out.

Ann Thompson:

Adam Sokolski, Director of Regulatory and Legislative Affairs for EDF Power Solutions. Thanks for your time.

Adam Sokolski:

Thank you, Ann.

Ann Thompson:

According to author, speaker and film producer, Robert Bryce, there are continued challenges for developers. He keeps track of renewable rejections in a database on his website. 

One argument is that solar farms decrease property value. Virginia Tech researchers looked at nearly nine million real estate sales to determine if that was true. The answer isn't very straightforward. On average, agricultural and vacant land within two miles of the site saw a 19% increase in value. However, residential homes within three miles of a site lost 5% of value. Scientists say more research is needed. An easier sell might be agrivoltiacs or allowing farm animals to graze or crops to grow between solar panels. The American Solar Grazing Association estimates US solar sites now host about 5,000 sheep. Another idea is to use brownfields, in other words, land that can't be used for farming to install solar panels. EDF Power Solutions says it utilizes brownfields and warehouse roofs in some cases.

Many agree that the electricity produced by solar farms is far more environmentally friendly than burning fossil fuel to create steam that drives turbines, and it makes electricity generally cheaper. But the financial advisory company, Lazard, says that finding comes with an important caveat. It said this before the Iran war, "Persistently low natural gas prices, rising renewable energy costs and higher electricity demand have made existing gas plants economically attractive compared with renewables." 

Increasingly, the decision to allow or block solar farms is falling to both lawmakers and the courts. Canary Media reports a new Ohio bill could be a de facto statewide ban on solar and wind because it seeks to redefine clean, reliable and affordable energy to prioritize natural gas and nuclear power. Senate Bill 294 co-sponsor George Lang represents Butler County. His staff told brick by brick, the proposed bill requires companies to employ affordable, reliable, and clean energy sources, prioritize domestic production, and Minimize reliance on foreign made solar panels.

Critics say that clean includes frack gas and nuclear power. Reliable requires energy to always be available and affordable must have predictable costs. MAREC Action, a coalition of utility scale solar, wind, and energy storage developers says Senate Bill 294 adds uncertainty for the industry and investors at a time when they want to build projects. Canary Media reports that many companies are under the gun to start construction by July 4th to lock in higher federal tax credits.

Coming up on the next Brick by Brick, the difference arts and culture can make for a community. Billions in economic impact, bridging gaps between neighbors, cultural preservation, and more. Next time on Brick by Brick. 

That's our show. If you like what you hear, please rate and review our podcast. It helps make finding the pod a little easier. We hope you learned something, and if you did, please share it with your friends and family. For Hernz Laguerre Jr. And Emiko Moore, I'm Ann Thompson. We'll be back soon with more solutions. Take care. 

Our show is produced, hosted an edited by me, Ann Thompson with reporting and story editing from Hernz Laguerre Jr. and Emiko Moore. Our Executive producer of Mark Lammers. Audio sweetening provided by Mike Schwartz. Zach Kramer runs the lights and cameras. Derrick Smith is our production specialist and Jason Garrison is our production manager. Marketing and promotions from Mike Shea and Bridgett Dillenburger. Elyssa Stefenson handles the website and Josh Lusby and Steve Wright are our designers. Bill Dean and Andres Kruza are the engineers for the show and our Chief Content Officer is Colin Scianamblo. Our music is from Universal Production Music. Brick by Brick: Solutions for a Thriving Community is a production of CET and ThinkTV, Southwest Ohio PBS member stations.