Emerson Creek wind farm advances toward construction

GROTON TWP. — The company building the Emerson Creek wind farm in Erie and Huron counties plans to start construction late next year after clearing another hurdle Thursday. Opponents of the project, approved during the summer, had filed an application for a rehearing before the Ohio Power Siting Board. But the board voted 6-0 to reject the application during its regular monthly meeting Thursday in Columbus. Board members voting to reject the latest challenge were Jenifer French, Mary Mertz, Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff, Laurie Stevenson, Lydia Mihalik and Dorothy Pelanda. Board member Gregory Murphy was absent from Thursday's meeting. The board's decision can now be appealed to the Ohio Supreme Court, said Matt Butler, a spokesman for the Ohio Power Siting Board. The Black Swamp Bird Observatory in Oak Harbor has been fighting against the proposed wind farm on the threat the project poses to birds and bats and was one of the parties seeking a rehearing. Area residents also had sought a rehearing. Kimberley Kaufman, the executive director of the organization, could not be reached for comment Friday after messages were left on her office phone and cell phone. The planned Emerson Creek wind farm is being built by Firelands Wind LLC, which has an office in Bellevue. Wind turbines will be built on farmland between Monroeville and Bellevue in portions of Erie County and a larger swath of Huron County. It would be located in portions of Groton, Richmond, Norwich, Ridgefield, Lyme, Oxford and Sherman Townships. Developers filed an application in 2019 and say it will generate up to 300 megawatts of clean electricity, enough to power 87,850 homes. Nate Pedder, senior development manager at Firelands LLC, said Friday plans call for construction to begin in November 2022 after farmers can complete their harvest. Construction should take 10 to 12 months and the wind farm should be operational at the end of 2023, he said. About 300 construction jobs will be created, along with about 10 permanent jobs once Emerson Creek is up and running, Pedder said. An operations and maintenance building housing the permanent workers will be just outside Bellevue, off of Ohio 4 inside the project area, Pedder said. Firelands Wind will deal with any possible legal challenges, Pedder said. "We are continuing to move forward," he said. During Thursday's Ohio Power Siting Board meeting, the board also approved four solar energy projects in Union, Wood, Crawford and Marion counties. The projects are Cadence Solar Energy in Union County, the Juliet Energy Project in Wood County, Sycamore Creek Solar in Crawford County and Marion County Solar Project in Marion County.