By Hilary Beaumont for Floodlight and Investigate Midwest.
Broadcast version by Nadia Ramlagan for Ohio News Connection reporting for the Investigate Midwest-Public News Service Collaboration

Solar farms and wind turbines are popping up across America as a new climate law boosts the economics of renewables through billions of dollars of incentives. But in Ohio, one of the most hostile states for renewables, developers are walking a tightrope.

For the first time, renewable energy in the United States is the same price as energy from burning fossil fuels. The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) — the largest investment in combating climate change in U.S. history — has helped developers by boosting tax credits. 

But solar advocates and developers in Ohio are pessimistic that the IRA will help them overcome fossil fuel-backed opposition groups spreading misinformation about solar and a harsh regulatory regime in the Republican-run state.

“Ohio is probably one of the most biased states in terms of its treatment of renewables as this catastrophic thing that needs to be limited and banned,” said Dave Anderson, policy and communications manager for the Energy and Policy Institute, a watchdog group that exposes dark money.

The state has set up an uneven playing field that favors fossil fuels. Ohio rebranded gas as “renewable” energy and passed a law, Senate Bill 52, that gives local governments the power to veto solar and wind farms. No such veto power exists for fossil fuel projects. 

Developers say SB52 is having a chilling effect on solar projects in a state where only 54% of residents believe climate change is caused by human activities — 4 percentage points less than the national average.

“It’s been pretty nuts to watch how far it’s gone,” Anderson said of SB52.

The law is part of a growing wave of organized opposition to renewables in 41 states, resulting in nearly 400 significant local restrictions against wind, solar and other projects, according to a 2024 report by the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School.

How the IRA is playing out in Ohio

At first glance, the Midwestern state might seem like a surprising place for solar. But relatively cheap land, a decent amount of sunshine, plus increasing demand from data centers means solar energy is crucial to meet the state’s future energy needs.

New solar construction in Ohio is set to accelerate to third place among the states by 2027. Ohio recently approved its largest solar installation, the 6,000-acre, 800-megawatt Oak Run project.

Passed in 2022, the IRA is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40% compared to 2005 levels. It would do this mostly by creating $270 billion in tax incentives plus $100 billion in other and other federal subsidies for climate and energy spending.

The biggest boost to solar is the extension of the solar investment tax credit for 10 years, creating long term policy certainty for the industry.

Solar projects that meet certain requirements are eligible for a 30% investment tax credit, and another 10% if the project is in a community that historically relied on fossil fuel production — including shuttered coal facilities — to employ local residents.

The extended tax credit is critical for solar farms: While solar manufacturing plants can start turning out parts within a year or two, it can take up to a decade for solar installation to come online.

In Ohio, solar developers say the IRA is creating momentum for projects that face siting hurdles, interconnection delays, supply chain uncertainty, tariffs, high interest rates and inflation.

The IRA is also contributing to the solar boom in Ohio by driving down costs.

“The costs of panels and mounting equipment, and basically everything tied to a solar farm goes down, because in general, these tax credits and incentives for both small and large products are creating an economy of scale,” explained Nolan Rutschilling, managing director of energy policy for the Ohio Environmental Council. “So we’re seeing the economics price out much better for solar projects and clean energy projects in general because of the IRA.”

Solar factories across the state have benefitted from IRA investment, including manufacturing facilities run by Illuminate USA, First Solar and Toledo Solar.

Illuminate USA has already started firing out solar panels, noted Jack Conness, policy analyst at Energy Innovation: Policy and Technology and creator of a map tracking IRA manufacturing spending. 

Illuminate USA also has solar farms in Ohio. “You would hope that creating these (manufacturing) facilities and creating jobs, and hopefully positive conversations around what they’re doing in the community then has some sort of trickle-down impact on solar installations in Ohio,” Conness said.

Lightsource BP, the developer behind three solar farms in Ohio, is seeing benefits from IRA job creation in Ohio, according to Alyssa Edwards, senior vice president of government relations and environmental affairs at Lightsource BP.

“The IRA is bringing benefits to American workers that most definitely is bringing a positive sentiment,” Edwards wrote in an email.

How SB52 blocks solar

While solar development is benefitting from the tailwinds of the IRA, it still faces the headwinds of SB52.

Before SB52 passed in 2021, the Ohio Power Siting Board had exclusive jurisdiction over large energy projects, and counties had no authority to stop them. After SB52 passed, it handed counties new regulatory powers to veto individual projects and establish restricted areas where wind and solar projects are banned.

Now, 24 of Ohio’s 88 counties have restricted areas against solar, according to Matthew Eisenson, senior fellow at the Renewable Energy Legal Defense Initiative at the Sabin Center. He said: “This number is going up.”

Added Eisenson: “A really important feature of SB52 is that this is a carve-out just for wind and solar — it doesn’t apply to fossil fuel projects.”

Led by state agency heads with backgrounds in the environment and agriculture, the Ohio Power Siting Board is equipped to make decisions on solar projects, he said, but commissioners at the county level often lack such expertise. 

“They’re ordinary citizens, elected by their peers,” Eisenson said. “Some of them run on an anti-solar, anti-wind platform. It’s much more of a political decision at the county level.”

When SB52 was proposed, solar developers struck a compromise with the bill’s sponsors, who were sympathetic to the need for business certainty. They grandfathered in projects that had a significant amount of investment and were deep into the study process, meaning they would move forward under the legacy set of rules. 

But new projects that are not grandfathered face the full weight of SB52, meaning they will first be screened by local commissioners before being considered by the Ohio Power Siting Board.

“SB52 adds another hurdle where the county has an opportunity to veto the project or establish a restricted area,” Eisenson explained. “After these grandfathered projects have all been resolved, counties will have the final say on wind and solar projects.” 

In short, the state could see a wave of solar construction, followed by relatively little installation.

The chilling effect of SB52 is already apparent: solar applications filed with the Ohio Power Siting Board decreased sharply the year it was enacted and have not recovered. 

Edwards, of Lightsource BP, didn’t directly comment on SB52, saying only, “As developers of renewable energy, we appreciate a regulatory structure that provides a clear process with certainty and is free from political influence and false narratives.”

Opposition stoked by fossil fuel groups

It was Lightsource BP’s own project, Birch Solar, that became the first large solar project to be rejected by the Ohio Power Siting Board after residents united against it.

In late 2020, opponents began organizing to stop the 300-megawatt, 2,300-acre Birch Solar project near Lima in northern Ohio — starting a Facebook group, establishing Against Birch Solar as an LLC, and launching a GoFundMe to raise $75,000 to fight the project. 

The group moved swiftly to engage with policymakers. In December 2020, the group’s leader Jim Thompson met with the Auglaize County Board of Commissioners to ask the board to pass resolutions against the solar farm. In February 2021, the group held a public meeting to stop Birch Solar, attended by the top two legislative leaders: Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman and Ohio House Speaker Bob Cupp. 

Weeks later, lawmakers introduced SB52, which was cosponsored by Huffman. Representatives from Against Birch Solar emailed Huffman and scheduled a meeting with him to show support for the law, according to emails obtained through a public records request. Thompson requested amendments and draft language.

The group listed dozens of concerns, outlined in documents sent to Huffman, including visual issues like “glint and glare,” potential harms to wildlife from construction and fencing, stormwater runoff, decreasing property values and a shift away from farming crops.

Thompson received inspiration from a group that has used a hub-and-spoke model to use disinformation about solar to stoke opposition in at least 12 states. Thompson told Floodlight and NPR that Susan Ralston, founder of Citizens for Responsible Solar, gave him advice and connected him with other anti-solar people in Ohio.

It’s unclear who is funding Citizens for Responsible Solar. While Ralston denied that the group received fossil fuel money, Floodlight and NPR reported that her consulting firm received $300,000 from a foundation with ties to coal companies. And while setting up the group, Ralston consulted with John Droz, an anti-wind strategist connected to the fossil fuel industry.

Thompson did not respond to questions, but denied that Against Birch Solar has ties to dark money.

Ohio has a history of fossil fuel groups supporting anti-renewable activists, according to research by the Energy and Policy Institute. The leader of anti-wind group Save Western Ohio was a paid consultant for a fossil fuel-funded think tank. And coal producer Murray Energy secretly paid an attorney to represent locals in their fight against an offshore wind project in Lake Erie.

Another solar project is facing opposition that critics say is linked to fossil fuel interests. Developers are proposing the Frasier Solar project in Knox County, near the headquarters of Ariel Corp., a major manufacturer in the gas industry.

One opposition group, Knox Smart Development, is linked to Ariel Corp. and the Empowerment Alliance, an anti-renewable dark-money group allied with the gas industry. An early version of the Knox Smart Development site had fingerprints of the Empowerment Alliance, including a hyperlink to The Empowerment Alliance with the words “Our Mission: Empowering America.”

Knox Smart Development has hosted town halls and bought advertising targeting locals. According to Energy News Network, speakers at the events include Tom Whatman, chief strategist of Majority Strategies, the highest paid contractor for The Empowerment Alliance. Knox Smart Development, Ariel Corp. and the Empowerment Alliance did not respond to requests for comment.

“They are a dark money organization that definitely is trying to promote fossil fuels and oppose clean energy,” said Rutschilling of the Ohio Environmental Council. “Yes, it’s a problem, but it also shows that the solar industry is growing and gaining and the fossil fuel industry is threatened by that.”

Some solar developers are pessimistic that IRA incentives can overcome SB52. Edwards of Lightsource BP said: “Unfortunately, I don’t believe they (IRA incentives) are enough to overcome such hurdles.”

But Rutschilling thinks the IRA will help swing public opinion. 

“We’re seeing a number of programs that were created by the IRA that are going to result in a significant amount of economic development and jobs in the state of Ohio,” he said. 

“That will shift the political tide in favor of the clean energy industry.”


Hilary Beaumont wrote this article for Floodlight and Investigate Midwest.


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New nuclear power options are getting a lot of attention but analysts said the unproven options could distract from readily available renewable energy options.

Big Tech companies with growing energy demands from technology, like artificial intelligence, have recently announced support for new nuclear efforts, including Amazon's support for a plan in Washington state. The plans involve technology called small modular reactors, which are smaller than typical nuclear reactors.

Dennis Wamsted, energy analyst at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, said the technology likely would not come online until 2030 or later in the U.S.

"It's a great marketing tool. There's no actual there, there yet," Wamsted asserted. "There are no operating small modular reactors in the United States or in Europe. There's one or two in Russia and one in China."

Wamsted recently analyzed what he called the hype surrounding small modular reactors. He noted the projects may be distant energy solutions and distract from solar, wind and geothermal plants, which are already proven to work.

Wamsted acknowledged tech companies should be applauded for their clean energy goals, which are among the most aggressive of any industry. But when it comes to small modular reactors, there are a lot of hurdles to starting up, including regulatory barriers.

"The safety license is given to you by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which has a process," Wamsted explained. "It is a relatively time-consuming process. It may be more time-consuming for companies like X Energy because their reactors have never been licensed before."

Wamsted added while we could wait a decade for small modular reactors to produce energy for the first time, there are solar projects, for instance, that have gone from announcement to commercial operation in two years.

"Focus on the availability now of renewables and continue to fund the SMRs," Wamsted urged. "But be up-front about the fact that they're not a solution for the rapid demand growth that we're going through in the United States right now."

By Kari Lydersen for Energy News Network.
Broadcast version by Terri Dee for Illinois News Connection reporting for the Solutions Journalism Network-Public News Service Collaboration

Darryl Moton is ready to "get on a roof."

The 25-year-old Chicago resident is among the latest graduates of an intensive 13-week solar training course that's helping to connect employers with job candidates from underrepresented backgrounds.

Moton was referred by another job readiness program meant to keep youth away from gun violence. He "never knew about solar" before but now sees himself owning a solar company and using the proceeds to fund his music and clothing design endeavors.

He and others interviewed for jobs with a dozen employers assembled at a church on Chicago's West Side on August 1 as part of the fourth training cohort for the 548 Foundation, which is partnering with Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker on a recently-announced $30 million initiative to create 1,000 solar jobs in Chicago's South and West side neighborhoods.

The 548 Foundation is part of 548 Enterprise, a suite of renewable energy and affordable housing development projects, launched in 2019 and named after the public housing unit where co-founder A.J. Patton grew up.

The idea is to help keep housing affordable by using solar to lower energy bills, while training people left out of the traditional energy economy to supply that solar.

"When you invest in a community, the biggest question is who benefits, who gets the jobs?" asked Patton, during the job fair. "This is as good as it gets," he added, about the recent state investment. "We just have to keep advocating for quality policy."

Employers at the job fair said such training programs are crucial for them to find workers in Illinois, where robust solar incentives are attracting many out-of-state companies eager to hire and hit the ground. Mike Huneke, energy operations manager for Minnesota-based Knobelsdorff said he has hired 18 employees from previous 548 cohorts, and he expected to make about six job offers after the recent interviews.

"Illinois is on fire," said Huneke. "We're not from Illinois, so finding this new talent pipeline is what we need. We have a ton of projects coming up."

Lisa Cotton, 30, has dreamed of being an electrician since she was a kid. She had received two job offers at the August 1 fair before the group even broke for lunch.

"A lot of times you go through a training program, get a certificate, and that's the end of it," said Jacqueline Williams of the Restoring Sovereignty Project, a partner which administers the wraparound services for the training program.

The 548 program makes sure to connect graduates with employers, and only companies with specific openings to fill are invited to the job fair. 548 and its partners also stay in contact with graduates and employers to make sure the placement is successful.

"We have a post-grad program where they can call us any time, and an alumni fund. If an employer says, 'This guy can't come to work because his radiator is busted,' we'll take care of that," said Williams.

Achieving equity

After Illinois passed an ambitious clean energy law in 2017, multiple solar training programs were launched in keeping with the law's equity provisions. But employers and advocates were frustrated by a seeming disconnect in which many trainees never got solar jobs, and employers weren't sure how to find the workers.

Since then, the state has passed another clean energy law - the 2021 Climate & Equitable Jobs Act, with even more ambitious equity mandates; and non-profit organizations have developed and honed more advanced workforce training programs. To access incentives under the law, employers need to hire a percent of equity-eligible applicants that rises to 30% by 2030. The program prioritizes people impacted by the criminal justice system, alumni of the foster care system, and people who live in equity-designated communities.

548 affiliates help employers navigate the paperwork and requirements involved in the equity incentives. Several employers at the job fair said this is a plus, but noted that regardless of equity, they are desperate for the type of highly-trained, enthusiastic candidates coming out of the 548 program.

"This is a great way to bridge what the state is trying to do with its clean energy goals, and connecting under-represented people with these opportunities," said Annette Poulimenos, talent acquisition manager of Terrasmart, a major utility-scale solar provider. "We came here ready to hire, and I think we're going to walk away with some new talent."

Member organizations of the Chicago Coalition for Intercommunalism do outreach to recruit most of the training program participants.

Nicholas Brock found out about the training thanks to a staffer at one of these organizations who noticed his professional attitude and punctuality as he walked by every morning to a different workforce program.

"Whatever I do, nine times out of 10, I'm the first one to get there, before the managers," said Brock, 20. "He noticed that and asked me, 'Have you ever heard about solar panels?'"

Brock knew little about solar at that point, but now he aims to be a solar project manager.

"I'm so glad I came here," he said. "They bring out the best in you."

Full service

Wraparound, holistic services are key to the program's success. During the training and for a year afterwards, trainees and alumni can apply for financial help or other types of assistance.

"There are so many barriers, it might be child care or your car is impounded," said Williams. "We might be writing a letter to a judge asking to 'please take him off house arrest so he can work.' It's intensive case management, navigating the bureaucratic anomalies that arise when you're system-impacted."

Moises Vega III, 26 - who always wanted to work in renewables because "it's literally the future" - noted that his car battery died during the training program, and he was provided funds to get his vehicle working again.

While ample support is available, the program itself is rigorous and demanding. Classes meet from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day, and trainees are required to check their phones at the door and be fully focused, notes instructor and 548 workforce strategies director Michael Thomas. During the hands-on boot camp week, the day starts at 6 a.m.

"That's when the trades start," noted Thomas. "You need to figure out how that works, how will you get child care at 5:30 a.m.?"

Sixty-one trainees started in the first three cohorts, and 46 graduated, the first group in July 2023. The fourth cohort started with 25, and as of the job fair, 18 were on track to graduate. Eighty-five percent of graduates from the first three cohorts are currently working in the field, according to 548.

"Even though I wish the graduation rate were higher, the people who commit to it, stay with it," said Kynnée Golder, CEO of Global HR Business Solutions, which has an oversight role for the 548 Foundation. "It's monumental, it's life-changing for a lot of people."

Comprehensive curriculum

The curriculum starts with life skills, including interpersonal relationships, resume-building, financial planning and more. Each day begins with a spiritual reflection.

The students learn about electricity and energy, and soon move into specific instruction on solar installation and operation. Rooms at St. Agatha's church served as labs, where students connected wires, built converters and eventually mounted solar panels on a demonstration pitched, shingled roof.

Terrance Hanson, 40, credited Thomas as "the best instructor ever."

"I'm not a young kid, my brain is no longer a sponge," Hanson said. "He made sure I got it all. Now I feel like I know so much, I'm confident and prepared to get out and show what I can do."

He added that people in disinvested neighborhoods have ample untapped potential to be part of the clean energy workforce.

"You see a lot of basketball players in my community because there are a lot of basketball hoops," he said. "If there were golf courses in the hood, you would see more golfers. It's about opportunities. And this was the most amazing and empowering thing I've ever been through."

Jack Ailey co-founded Ailey Solar in 2012, making it the oldest still-operating residential installer in Illinois, by his calculations. He noted that there can be high turnover among installers, and intensive training and preparation is key.

"You're out there in the sun, the cold, it's heavy physical labor, wrestling 40-pound panels up to the roof," he said. "You have to know what you're getting into."

"Some training programs vary in quality," Ailey added, but he was impressed by the candidates at the 548 job fair.

Trainees test for and receive multiple certifications, including the OSHA 30 for quality assurance, and the NCCER and NABCEP for construction and solar professionals, respectively. The program is also a pre-apprenticeship qualifier, allowing graduates to move on to paid, long-term apprenticeships with unions representing carpenters, electricians, plumbers and laborers - the gateway to a lucrative and stable career in the trades.

Thomas noted that most trade unions still don't have a major focus on solar.

"We're ahead of the unions, and our graduates bring real value to them, and to the companies," he said. "The students might know more than a company's foreman knows. It's a win-win situation. Solar is a nascent industry, there's so much opportunity in this space."

When Tredgett Page, 38, connected with 548, his auto detailing work and other odd jobs were not going well. He had always loved science and been curious about photosynthesis and the sun's power.

"I had been in the streets before, and I was leaning back toward that, but God brought me here," he said. "Now I have the confidence, I know what I'm talking about, I know about megawatts and kilowatts, net metering, grid-connected, pretty much anything about solar."

He sees metaphorical significance in his new trade: "Energy is life, and it teaches you balance, it's all about negative and positive ions." He feels like "the sky is the limit" after the training.

"I have so much skill that they gave me, now I'm hungry to use it," he said. "I'm a little nervous, but optimistic, excited, very exuberant!"


Kari Lydersen wrote this article for Energy News Network.


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More regulatory action is needed, but a controversial pipeline project in North Dakota is moving forward after a permit was approved last week.

Supporters and opponents are now eyeing the next steps.

The state's Public Service Commission gave Summit Carbon Solutions the green light for a siting permit for its planned route in North Dakota.

The company wants to construct a multi-state pipeline in the Midwest to capture carbon pollution from ethanol plants and store the emissions underground in North Dakota.

The commission last year rejected Summit's initial permit request.

Zach Cassidy, CO2 pipeline organizer for the Dakota Resource Council, said the latest outcome raises a big question.

"Who in our state government, or our local governments, has the power to make safety decisions on this pipeline for their residents?" said Cassidy. "Because if county commissioners can't do it, and if the PSC won't do it, that means that no one is looking out for us."

He's referring to rulings that state law supersedes counties pursuing zoning restrictions.

Cassidy said in North Dakota, Summit still needs a storage permit and opponents will focus on that, along with legislative changes.

The company praised the decision, noting it will soon re-apply for a permit in South Dakota, which also initially said no.

The project has led to backlash over concerns such as public safety and landowner rights.

Summit also says it has secured more than 80% of land easements needed for the North Dakota route.

Ahead of last Friday's unanimous approval, Commission Chair Randy Christmann strongly encouraged the company not to rely on practices such as eminent domain as it keeps reaching out to landowners.

"It is something that burdens families for generations," said Christmann. "Eminent domain should never be abused."

Summit insists it remains committed to working collaboratively with affected landowners and communities.

Beyond the Dakotas, the company is awaiting a permit decision in Minnesota. It already secured permit approval in Iowa. Nebraska also is included in the multi-state plan.