Solar Field Clears Hurdle

Williams County Commissioners approve the 49-megawatt Jefferson Township solar field application for certification. Officials say, it exempts the project from otherwise applicable public utility personal property taxes and real property taxes. We reported back in February, Charlottesville, Virginia-based, Apex Clean Energy, unveiled its formal proposal for a solar field…covering a 500-acre area, along U.S. 20A. In 2010, the Ohio General Assembly passed Senate Bill 232, which created the PILOT statute, enabling renewable energy developers to remit to the county a fixed annual amount, per megawatt payment, in lieu of real and personal property tax. As part of the Jefferson Township proposal, the county and Apex agreed to Apex making annual payments, in lieu of taxes…of $7,000 per megawatt, per year…to various entities in the county that would have received tax payments from the project for the 40-year lifetime of the project.