sPower, an AES and AIMCo company, recently opened an office in Seneca County, Ohio, to serve as a resource for its proposed Seneca Wind project.
The office, located in downtown Tiffin at 23 Court St., will be open to the public during designated hours five days a week. The company encourages anyone to visit the office to ask questions or provide input on the wind proposal.
“We thank the residents and community leaders who have welcomed us, and we invite everyone to visit our office and engage with us,” says Gordon Gray, director of wind for sPower.
The Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB) will hold a public hearing on Feb. 19 at Tiffin University’s Marion Center to discuss the proposed wind farm.
The Seneca Wind project would be situated on approximately 56,900 acres of leased private land in Scipio, Reed, Venice, Eden and Bloom townships. It would consist of up to 85 wind turbines with a total generating capacity of up to 212 MW.
The adjudicatory hearing in the proceeding will be held on March 6 at the offices of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. The purpose of this hearing is to allow formal parties to the case to present testimony and evidence and cross examine other parties’ witnesses. The OPSB has not scheduled a date for a final decision in this case.
sPower is seeking a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need as part of a comprehensive public review process.
In September, the State of Ohio certified Seneca Wind as a Qualified Energy Project, establishing a fixed payment in lieu of taxes throughout the operational life of the project. Based on the proposed 212 MW of nameplate capacity and 30-year expected lifetime of the project, the wind farm would result in $56 million of revenue to be divided among schools, townships and other taxing jurisdictions in Seneca County, according to sPower. The Qualified Energy Project program also creates requirements for in-state employment, renewable energy education, road improvement and repair, and emergency response training.
“I welcome sPower to our downtown community – another success in the efforts to revitalize the courthouse square area,” says Shayne Thomas, Seneca County commissioner. “Representatives from sPower made several commitments to the commissioners. One of them was to have a staffed local office in downtown Tiffin. I thank them for keeping that pledge. This move demonstrates their long-term commitment to the county and their promise to be accessible to concerned citizens. Their small, local office will grow into hundreds of millions of dollars in new investment across the county.”
