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Evendale resident Caroline Duffy urges council to track Ohio bill enabling municipal solar utilities
Summary
A resident told council a draft Ohio bill could let municipalities form solar utilities with subscriber models and urged Evendale to study feasibility; council noted a related local zoning amendment was at first reading.
Caroline Duffy, an Evendale resident who said she recently installed rooftop solar, told the Village Council the community should watch a draft Ohio bill she described as allowing municipalities to create solar or alternative-energy utilities that residents could subscribe to.
"My name is Caroline Duffy. I'm a resident of Evendale, and we just installed solar panels on our house," Duffy said during the public-hearing portion of the meeting. She described the bill (referred to in testimony as "House Bill 303") as a measure that passed the Ohio House, would let municipal buildings host solar panels and allow subscribers to receive the tax-credit benefits that lower their energy bills. "In our month of February, we paid $25 for our electric," she said as an example of potential savings.
Duffy said the draft bill would let municipalities develop facilities whose tax credits could reduce subscribers' energy costs and help pay for installation. She told council that, in her conversations with a company that installs solar fields, potential municipal installations could include ground-mounted fields, parking-lot canopies or rooftop systems; she cited a rough maximum of 15 megawatts discussed by a vendor as an example and suggested the village consider a feasibility study.
The resident also raised concerns about where support might come in the state legislature, saying the Senate energy committee chair "comes from the energy, groups" and questioning whether utilities might lobby against the bill because it could lower customer usage. She urged the village to stay informed in case state action creates a local opportunity to expand solar access.
Council members did not take a vote on the state proposal. The council did record a local zoning item related to solar: Ordinance 26-12, which amends sections of the Evendale zoning code on solar collection devices, was read for its first reading at the meeting but was not adopted. Mayor and staff said the state bill's fate remains speculative and the village will monitor legislative developments and consider feasibility steps if the law progresses.
No formal action was taken on state legislation at the meeting; the council proceeded to its consent calendar and other business.
