Comments sought on road renaming

Citizens' views on renaming part of Allen Township Road 215, north of Findlay, to "Electric Avenue" are being sought today at a public hearing of the Hancock County commissioners. The hearing will be held at 2 p.m. today in the 1st-floor conference room of the Hancock County Building, 514 S. Main St. Findlay-based One Energy wants its Township Road 215 address changed to "Electric Avenue" as it expands to a national profile, providing high-volume power for emerging industries. The name change would apply to the portion of Township Road 215 between county roads 220 and 236. One Energy in October petitioned the commissioners for the name change. "As we become a public company and raising our national profile we thought it was important to have a street name that was not a township address," One Energy Chief Executive Officer Jereme Kent said. "So we proposed the name of Electric Avenue to heighten the kind of attention to the street and the investment we are making" at One Energy's corporate campus along Township Road 215. "As we have a bigger and bigger corporate campus here, it kind of made sense to have the street have some name, and Electric Avenue seemed appropriate given what we do," he said. The company, which started as a wind turbine builder, is now offering power for electric semis and for emerging industries like digital currency mining and indoor farming. It recently unveiled its Findlay Megawatt Hub, a 30-megawatt site which is expandable to 150MW. Powered by the first fully digital, transmission-voltage substation in the United States, the Megawatt Hub is a breakthrough for emerging industries stifled by lack of access to high volumes of power, he said. The hub and substation are located on One Energy's campus north of Findlay. The company reports that it will use a "Power Island" to configure electric semi-truck charging infrastructure to support multiple corporate trucking fleet operators. One Energy is expected to get a $300 million infusion of cash for growth opportunities in a pending merger with an investment group. One Energy and TortoiseEcofin Acquisition Corp. III have agreed to merge, pending approvals by the Securities and Exchange Commission and shareholders. The approvals could occur in the first quarter of 2024. One Energy will bring its business model and industry expertise and TortoiseEcofin will bring its $300 million to form a new public company: One Power Co., to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "ONEP." One Energy operates throughout Ohio, including wind turbines it built and which supply electricity to Whirlpool Corp., Ball Corp. and Valfilm in Findlay. One Energy has become the nation's largest installer and operator of wind-generated electricity directly supplied to customers from outside the grid. It has about 65 employees. With the cash injection from TortoiseEcofin, it will be poised to expand into other states.