Springwater Solar

The applicant is required to hold a public informational meeting prior to any formal filing with the OPSB. This meeting will serve to educate affected parties to the project on its details. The meeting will also provide an avenue for public input and comments to aid in the preparation of the application.

Within 90 days of the public informational meeting, the application of the proposed facility willbe filed with the OPSB. The application will include all required anticipated impacts of the facility on the surrounding area. 

Within 60 days of the application submittal, the OPSB will notify the applicant if the application is in compliance with the statute to continue the review of the application. If the application is not deemed complete, the applicant will be required to address any deficiencies. Once the application is deemed complete, it will be served to local public officials in the project area and legal notices will be published in the local newspapers. In parallel to this process, interested parties will have the opportunity to be recognized as intervenors in the case. 

The OPSB Staff will review the application and consult with other state and federal agencies. The staff's findings and recommendations will be made available prior to the case's hearings. The report will be considered as evidence in each case, but the Board does not have to use the Staff's recommendations in its decision.

The OPSB held a local public hearing in October of 2022, and an adjudicatory hearing was held in November of 2022 that were both run by an administrative law judge. Citizens, interest groups and government entities presented testimonies on the case. At the public hearing, citizens, interest groups, and government entities that have not formally intervened and been named parties in the case had the opportunity to provide testimony on the case. At the adjudicatory hearing, parties in the case, including the applicant and any intervening parties, had the opportunity to provide testimony. 

Following the Board's decision, parties may file for rehearing of the decision. Following the rehearing process, those decisions may be appealed to the Supreme Court of Ohio.

Springwater Solar was approved by the OPSB on December 15, 2022.