The Ohio Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that a state board must thoroughly address the visual impacts of a proposed solar farm in Madison County before approving it.
The Ohio Power Siting Board had approved the Oak Run Solar project in March 2025 despite opposition from the Madison County commissioners and Somerford, Deercreek and Monroe townships. The court heard oral arguments in October.
Among local government concerns was that Oak Run's application failed to fully show how it might address potential safety concerns.
The local governments also argued Oak Run did not provide depictions of the project’s substations with its application and as a result, the siting board did not have the necessary information concerning the visual impacts.
During oral arguments in October, attorney Jack Van Kley argued on behalf of the trustees and commissioners that the siting board accepted an incomplete application that also didn't do enough to address its potential harm to wildlife and soil or the risk of fires from battery storage.
Writing for the court's majority, Justice Patrick Fischer said the local governments failed to prove they would be harmed by the project except for concerns about the visual impacts of the large poles carrying transmission lines.
The court sent the matter back to the siting board to address those impacts.
The solar project that would be built near Plumwood would be Ohio's largest, sitting on 6,000 acres. At least 2,000 of the acres would be farmed.
