Wind and Solar Leasing in Huron County, Ohio: The Emerson Creek Wind Farm and the Ohio Supreme Court

The Emerson Creek Wind Farm: a two-county project that went to the Ohio Supreme Court

Firelands Wind LLC, an affiliate of Apex Clean Energy, developed the Emerson Creek Wind Farm as a 297-megawatt wind-generation project sited across both Huron and Erie Counties. Because a project of that size exceeds the 5-megawatt threshold that triggers state jurisdiction, it required a certificate of environmental compatibility and public need from the Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB) rather than approval through ordinary township or county zoning. The OPSB granted that certificate, but a small group of nearby residents and the Black Swamp Bird Observatory appealed the decision directly to the Ohio Supreme Court, arguing the Board had not adequately evaluated the project's impacts.

On July 27, 2023, the Ohio Supreme Court issued a unanimous 7-0 decision, authored by Justice Pat DeWine, affirming the OPSB's certificate and rejecting every argument the opponents raised. That ruling cleared the way for Firelands Wind to proceed toward construction, and the project has since moved forward. For a Huron County land buyer, this case is a concrete, real-world example of how far a wind-farm approval can be contested here -- and how, once the OPSB's certificate survives that kind of challenge, the project effectively has state-level authorization to proceed regardless of what an individual nearby landowner or a local zoning board might otherwise prefer.

How Ohio wind and solar siting bypasses ordinary local zoning

It's worth understanding the structural reason a project like Emerson Creek isn't simply a township-zoning decision: Ohio Revised Code gives the OPSB exclusive siting jurisdiction over "economically significant" wind farms (5 megawatts or more) and large solar facilities (50 megawatts or more), which means neither Huron County nor any of its townships can independently block, approve, or meaningfully modify a project of that scale through their own zoning authority once it's under OPSB review. What local government does retain, under 2021's Senate Bill 52, is a narrower and earlier tool: county commissioners can designate part or all of the county's unincorporated area as a "restricted area" off-limits to future large wind or solar projects, but only through a public resolution process with advance notice, and only before a specific project's application is filed -- it isn't a veto over an application already in the pipeline.

This research pass did not find evidence that Huron County has adopted its own SB 52 restricted-area resolution as of this review, though the county's zoning regulations reportedly do not list wind or solar as a currently permitted principal or accessory use in at least some township zoning codes -- a detail worth confirming directly given how it could interact with any future project proposal near a specific parcel.

What to check before buying near an active or proposed project

If you're evaluating land near the Emerson Creek Wind Farm site or anywhere else in Huron County where a future wind or solar project could be proposed, three concrete steps are worth taking: (1) ask the Huron County Recorder whether any turbine setback easement, access easement, or transmission-line right-of-way already affects the parcel or an adjoining tract; (2) check with the county Commissioners Office whether Huron County has adopted, or is considering, an SB 52 restricted-area resolution that could affect future development near your target parcel; and (3) if you're a landowner being approached for a wind or solar lease yourself, review the lease's decommissioning-bond provisions and duration terms carefully, since Ohio's OPSB process governs the project's siting but the lease itself is a private contract between the developer and the landowner.