An opinion piece in the Vol. 134, No. 1 issue of the Examiner in December authored by Russells Point resident Chuck Mallory incorrectly claims that the proposed Grange Solar Grazing Center will be the recipient of millions of dollars in annual payments from Logan County. This is patently false. No such payments exist, and this kind of mischaracterization misleads the community and sows distrust. As we have offered before, anyone with questions about solar, Grange’s application to the Ohio Power Siting Board (“OPSB”), or our company is welcome to stop by our office at 315 E. Main Street, Russells Point, or schedule a time to meet with us. Our doors are open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and we are always available by email or phone.
What will be the Grange Solar Grazing Center’s impact in Logan County? This is a generational opportunity that will bring substantial benefits to Logan County residents for years to come (all without costly services like sewer or water that are typically required with large developments or employers). Grange will contribute over $5 million per year to local schools, townships, villages, EMS departments and other county services. This annual tax revenue equates to more than double what the next largest taxpayer in Logan County pays annually and will generate approximately 85 times the annual tax revenue that the same land hosting the project generates for its local taxing entities.
Grange will support approximately 1,500 jobs during construction, including over 1,000 directly, resulting in $167 million in wages and value-add for the region. This means many businesses will see significant inflows of spending during the months in which the project is under construction (including during off-peak seasons).
These figures and methodology for estimating the net economic impact of the Grange Solar Grazing Center, calculated by experts at The Ohio State University’s Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics, must pass muster with experts at OPSB and state agencies. We are held accountable by the state for any commitment or claim made in our application. We understand that building trust takes time, so feel free to take our word with a grain of salt but know that we’re subject to intense scrutiny and rigorous investigation by the state agency, OPSB.
Unfortunately, that same level of accountability, scrutiny, and third-party verification does not extend to claims made by opponents like Mr. Mallory. For example, in response to other claims and analysis Mr. Mallory has regularly publicized on Grange’s OPSB docket, the economists at the Ohio State University who authored the Grange socioeconomic report indicated that “Mr. Mallory has not correctly interpreted or understood the analysis we provided. Therefore, the mistakes he purports to find are not mistakes at all.”
If you’re interested in learning more about this proposed project, we ask that you consider critically everything you read, see, and hear, regardless of the source, because there is a lot of misinformation out there.
If you haven’t yet accessed our application, you can do so at www.grange.solar/application or opsb.ohio.gov/cases/24-0801-el-bgn. We welcome your questions and comments and look forward to more discussions with interested community members.
Doug Herling
Grange Solar Grazing Center
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