Company eyes growth; neighbors dismayed

One Energy's chief has a message for residents north of Findlay: The electricity provider is considering expansion — including building an industrial park — in their neighborhood. One Energy Chief Executive Officer Jereme Kent issued the statement Tuesday after the Hancock County commissioners denied the company's request to rename Township Road 215 to "Electric Avenue." The commissioners' decision pleased the crowd of about 40 people at the public hearing. Kent, who did not attend the hearing, was not pleased. "We are both surprised and disappointed by today's vote," he said afterward. "It does not make sense to us." A company manager at the hearing said the name change was needed to help truckers find One Energy. "On a daily basis, I receive at least two phone calls from truck drivers who cannot find our location. We have a major problem with our address," Kellie Suever, procurement manager for One Energy, said. "When truckers look up One Energy's Township Road 215 address, it brings up a duplicate address in Arcadia," she said. Residents adamantly opposed the name change. They expressed skepticism that truckers would have difficulty finding One Energy. Some said One Energy could simply assign a name to the entrance drive to its campus, rather than inconvenience dozens of neighbors. Changing the name of part of Township Road 215 could cause confusion for emergency responders hurrying to help people in crisis, residents and others said. 'Not going anywhere' One Energy's proposed name change seemed to ignite a flashpoint for those who have been dismayed by the company's growth in their neighborhood. "We don't like that the windmills are pushing in. We don't like that they are purchasing property across from us to the north. And to the east, they have options on those. We know this," Barbara Lemon of Township Road 215, told the commissioners Tuesday. "It is unnerving to farmers that the farmland is going." Growth keeps invading the country life so many have known and loved for so long, Regina Wiechart, of Township Road 215, said. "I look one way and it's going to be a solar farm. I look the other way and it's going to be these wind turbines," she said. "We loved living in the country. Now Findlay keeps coming out and getting more and it really upsets me." Others expressed concerns that One Energy is doing soil testing in the area. Kent said denial of the name change will not deter One Energy from growing. "We are actively considering all potential expansion plans for our office, including the feasibility of building a new industrial park," he said. "To do that we are doing some geotechnical work in the area to make sure that is possible." "We are not going anywhere," Kent said. "We have been a good neighbor in Hancock County for more than a decade. We will continue to do so for the next decade."