After a 2-year wait, will Ohio’s largest solar project get the OK?

Ohio's largest solar and battery storage project, Oak Run Solar, is nearing a decision after two years tied up in legal fights. The project would bring 800 megawatts of solar and 300 megawatts of battery storage to Madison County. Regulators first approved it in 2024, but the county and three townships appealed, delaying construction. In May, the Ohio Supreme Court rejected most of their objections but sent the case back to state regulators on one narrow issue: whether the visual impact of the project's substations was properly reviewed. After a hearing in July, the developer presented new photo simulations showing what the substations would look like from public viewpoints. The state siting board's own staff has now recommended approving the project, though the full board still has to vote and there's no set deadline for that decision.

This case matters beyond one solar farm because it shows how difficult it has become to build wind and solar projects in Ohio. State lawmakers have passed several laws in recent years that make it harder to site renewable energy projects, and regulators have blocked over 5 gigawatts of wind and solar in the past few years. The developer says it has already spent more than $13 million and needs the project running by 2030 to meet contracts with the regional grid operator. If approved, the project is expected to bring about $250 million in payments to local governments over its lifetime. For homeowners, this case is a sign of how state-level permitting fights can slow or block the kind of larger clean energy buildout that affects electricity supply and prices statewide.