MOUNT VERNON — How could Knox County become energy independent? That was the topic of discussion at the Knox Chamber of Commerce Event Thursday afternoon at the Gallagher Centre.
"As we talk about solar, it's really about energy independence, right?" Brian Dicken, with Toledo's Regional Chamber of Commerce, said. "And we certainly see gas prices fluctuate pretty wildly over the past couple of years. International issues come into play.
"When you talk about wind, solar, certainly natural gas and oil are big in Ohio. It all fits within that energy portfolio."
Dicken's example for renewable energy was a 500-megawatt power plant that takes between 18 to 24 months to construct. Such a plant would bring in between 400 to 500 jobs, not all permanent.
"But for that year and a half, you're gonna have those individuals working in your communities, come to your restaurants, getting their cars worked on," he said. "So there's certainly a local benefit to that."
The question remained: How do communities become interested and willing participants in solar energy?
"As we're trying to develop the industry, how do we get people interested and be prepared to maybe build that next solo project?" Dicken said. "Sometimes we hear about the infrastructure. Companies are required to restore roads and other infrastructure that may be disrupted during that. That's a requirement that they have to fulfill."
Some of the tax money that comes from renewable energy goes back to local schools, Dicken said.
He also touched on the economic effect that the solar panel supply chain can bring, using the example of Perrysville-based company First Solar.
"They have more than 200 supply decks across the state," Dicken said. "You may know somebody who works as part of the solar supply chain. They may not be building the panel but certainly those component and services that come into it."
In return, it can make Ohio attractive for future sustainable energy businesses, Dicken said.
Matt Butler, public information officer with Ohio Power Siting Board, spoke on how renewable energy projects are processed and approved by the state.
"Our job is to review energy projects across the state before any developer can construct one of those facilities," Butler said.
The board is comprised of some voting members, directors of state agencies from Ohio EPA, the department of agriculture, development, natural resources and health. A seventh board member is a public professional engineer appointed by the governor, Butler said. When renewable projects are involved, two additional votes come from the township affected and one from the county.
The board's process, consisting of an application, public hearings and approving or disapproving the project, generally takes about a year to complete for solar projects, Butler said.
Every project has to establish a "complaint resolution process," which is a way for community members to voice their concerns.
"If there's a land owner who has concerns that a field tile was broken on the of the property, and that is creating drainage issues on his neighboring property, that's going to be taken care of," Butler said. "In fact, we have a standard condition that requires them to repair at their expense.
"You might wonder if a 25- to 30-year-end of life facility like this, what's going to happen (then)? Is this just gonna be left her in the ground for us to deal with as a community or as a landowner? And that's not the case."
A decommissioning bond is required, that's put in place up front for the full replacement value of the facility with the bond adjusting every five years, Butler said. The bond would be used to take the facility up out of the ground and restore it to its preexisting use.
