A company is attempting to meet Ohio’s increasing energy needs through a multi-county transmission project, though some residents are concerned about how the project could affect their properties.
Grid Growth Ventures is a partnership between First Energy and Transource Energy. Regional grid operator PJM Interconnection awarded Grid Growth a power line project in February. The project aims to create 220 miles of power line from Guernsey County through the Ohio-Indiana border and into Indiana.
The project could span Ohio counties including Darke, Shelby, Miami, Clark, and Champaign. No final route has been selected at this time.
Grid Growth is collecting information to determine a final route in 2027, with construction beginning in late 2027 and concluding by 2030. On its website, Grid Growth is asking residents to submit feedback by Oct. 15.
Public feedback
Since earlier this month, Grid Growth has hosted open house-style public information meetings in potentially affected counties to solicit resident feedback on the project.
“We’re here today, and over the next couple of weeks, to learn from residents across the potentially impacted counties and gather feedback from landowners to help then determine the final route,” Grid Growth spokesperson Scott Blake said at the Sept. 22 open house at the Clark County Fairgrounds. Since last month, Grid Growth has been contacting potentially affected residents.
As of now, Grid Growth has identified study segments, or potential options for transmission line routes. Blake said Grid Growth intends on using various factors, including resident and landowner feedback, to identify a final line route.
Landowners at the Clark and Champaign open houses were concerned about how the project may affect environmental health, the viability of farmland, property value, and more.
“We’re a rural community, a farming community, and I’d like to see it stay that way. I don’t want to see it overdeveloped and have a lot of side effects from that,” said Diane Cox, who runs a business in Urbana. Cox attended the Champaign County open house, at the Champaign County Fairgrounds.
Jennifer Roberts, who owns a farm in Springfield, was specifically worried about the effects construction might have on a no-till field, which could be negatively affected by soil disturbances. Roberts said it could take years for a damaged no-till field to return to its previous state.
“It (The project) would be damaging to the acreage that our livelihoods are part of,” Roberts said. “Then there’s the obvious loss of property value.”
Grid Growth spokesperson Blake said Grid Growth is generally able to work with farmers to ensure agricultural activities can continue.
Jobs and taxes
Clark County Commissioner Greg Kaffenbarger attended the Clark County open house Sept. 22. He said he wanted to know the extent to which the transmission lines will directly benefit Clark County residents. He added that he encourages his constituents to attend meetings, ask questions, and offer feedback.
“In the end, we need to gain knowledge before we make any decision, yea or nay, on this topic,” Kaffenbarger said.
The project has the support of State Sen. Stephen Huffman, who highlighted a PJM analysis that called for additional transmission infrastructure to meet Ohio’s energy needs. In a statement, Huffman said the project could not only improve Ohio’s grid infrastructure, but support nearly 1,300 construction jobs and eventually generate around $24.7 million in annual state and local tax revenue.
Huffman added that the concerns of potentially affected landowners “deserve careful consideration.”
