HIGHLAND COUNTY, Ohio — Liberty Township in Highland County has joined many other communities in the Tri-State area that are pushing back against solar farms in their rural communities.
The battle for or against solar farms has been a key issue in communities from Dearborn County in Indiana to Brown and Highland counties in Ohio.
In our search for answers about the lasting impacts of solar farms, I found thousands of acres of solar arrays are already up and running in Highland County.
Lifelong resident Jason Gall lives on Tolle Road in Liberty Township, which is around 60 square miles with 10,000 residents, an hour east of Cincinnati.
Gall told me he's concerned that a company is looking at land around his house for a solar farm, and he's worried it will impact the serenity of living in the country.
“It’s awful,” he said. “There’s nothing pretty about it. It’s not corn and beans or farm-grown like we’re used to. It’s an industrialized solar field, it’s a black panel tilted this way or that way, you don’t see deer and stuff running through that, you see nothing but a solar panel.”
WATCH: Resident share concerns over possible solar farms coming to Highland County:
There are several solar farms owned by different companies that stretch up State Route 138 near Buford.
One completely surrounds a home. Others are set back and not as noticeable among the trees and snowy landscape.
But Gall said he has concerns other than aesthetic ones — many that he took to Liberty Township trustee Ron Ward.
“My concern is no one’s ever torn one down yet. What’s the reclamation process … can you use the land when it’s done?” Gall said.
Specifics of each solar contract weren’t available, but oftentimes companies lease the land from owners for 20 to 30 years with the promise to return the land to usable farmland after they’re done.
Ron Ward, who was Highland County Sheriff for 14 years, told me he has similar concerns about the long-term impacts.
“The cleanup, they build these things, 30 years from now, who’s guaranteeing they’re going to be cleaned up?” Ward said.
Ward said some of the solar farms have already changed hands between different companies up to four times in a few years.
Ally Kraemer has been following solar farm development in Highland County. You can reach out to here here:
He said there is concern that if the last company to own the solar farm goes bankrupt, there won’t be money to tear down the solar panels or return the land to usable farms.
A new report from the International Renewable Energy Association (IRENA) took a deep look at the positives and negatives of large-scale solar farms around the world.
The report found soil under solar farms can see long-term benefits once the farm reaches its average 30-year lifespan and is decommissioned.
At the end of the day, both men I spoke with said it comes down to money.
“You can’t hardly blame the farmers for selling for that high of price they’re bringing in,” Gall said.
“They sit down at your kitchen table and offer you the world, that’s a hard thing to turn down,” Ward said.
But Ward wants morals over money.
“The profit one to affect 50, 60, 70 other households, I think it’s just morally wrong,” Ward said.
Gall told me he believes solar companies are paying farmers $15,000 to $20,000 an acre to lease the land and build solar arrays, while he estimated land in Highland County usually costs around $2,000 to $3,000 an acre.
Ultimately, Gall said he's worried if solar farms move into his area, his property value will drop. He’s lived in his home since 1998 and doesn’t want to move.
“Who would want to live by it? How could you sell?” Gall said.
WATCH: Liberty Township trustees pass a resolution in opposition to solar farms
Ward took the concerns of neighbors to fellow township trustees and the group hosted a town hall in January. Ward said about 70 people attended, 50 of them spoke and only one of those people was in favor of solar arrays.
For that reason, Liberty Township trustees signed a resolution opposing small solar arrays (under 50 megawatts) in the township.
That resolution was supported by the Highland County Commissioners, who also pointed to a 2021 resolution that opposes small solar countywide.
But opposition and resolutions don’t prevent construction.
There are no zoning regulations in unincorporated portions of Highland County.
Ward said without zoning, small solar projects have fewer hoops to jump through in order to get approved.
Projects over 50 megawatts must go through the Ohio Siting Board and local commissioners are given a seat at the voting table.
But Ward said the projects he's worried about are all under the 50 megawatt threshold.
