This story is the fourth in a series about the conflict over solar power in rural Ohio.
LIMA, Ohio—When Michael Wildermuth was growing up here, the snow sometimes had black specks in it because of pollution from the city’s heavy industry.
Now retired from a career managing computer systems for public schools, he started a nonprofit last year to support a solar farm proposal, partly to help the region begin to make up for its history of environmental damage.
He is recognizable for his thick white beard and his fondness for dark sweaters. The closest he gets to swearing is saying “jeepers.”
On a recent drive, he started in his suburban cul-de-sac and headed down to West Breese Road, his neighborhood’s main drag. The radio in his black Chrysler minivan was tuned to the classical music station out of Toledo.
Michael Wildermuth in his living room. Credit: Dan Gearino.
The housing subdivisions faded into farmland. He pointed to a cornfield off to the left, where the crop had been harvested, leaving the remnants of stalks and leaves. This, about 300 feet back from the road, was where a developer had proposed to build the Birch Solar project.
Wildermuth started his group, Allen Auglaize Coalition for Reasonable Energy, because he felt like the local debate over the solar project—which would be located in parts of Allen and Auglaize counties—had been hijacked by an opposition that relied on scary scenarios that were largely unsupported by facts.
“Somebody needs to stand up and say, ‘The emperor has no clothes here,’” he said.
He felt sympathy for his neighbors who were leery of a project that would change the look and feel of parts of the community. But his sympathy had limits when weighed against the benefits for the environment and for funding of local governments and schools.
He was describing a tension that exists across the country as officials want to be attentive to local concerns, but find that doing so leads to a situation in which renewable energy opponents gain supersize powers to kill projects. The dispute gets fuel from the sharing of social media posts that raise alarm about the effects on human health and property values, even if the evidence supporting those concerns is thin at best.
About 120 miles to the southeast, in Williamsport, Ohio, similar opposition has coalesced around a different project, Chipmunk Solar. The people involved in that conflict have not been paying much attention to the Birch Solar fight in Lima, but how it’s resolved will cast a shadow on the Chipmunk case and all others in which there is strong pushback from local governments.
Birch Solar is a test of whether state regulators are going to reject a proposal solely because of local opposition.
Places like Lima are attractive for renewable energy development following …….