Programs look to develop more clean energy resources

 Notes

This meeting was attended virtually through the City of Cincinnati’s online CitiCable/livestreaming network. This particular meeting struggled to produce quality sound, making it difficult to hear council members, guests and presenters without turning the volume all the way up. The camera focused on the speakers, often shortening shots on the overall aerial view or even presentation slides. As a result, it was difficult to get a good read on how much other council members were paying attention to the presentations or how they were reacting to guest speakers. It was also difficult to read the slides presented, as they would only linger on the slides for a short time before switching back to a live feed on the presenters. While speaker names were spoken out loud, they were not posted on screen for speaker verification. 

Important Terms/Link for Readers: 

• Ohio House Bill 15: https://search-prod.lis.state.oh.us/api/v2/general_assembly_136/legislation/hb15/05_EN/pdf/  
• “Brownfield” is an abandoned, idled or underused industrial, commercial or institutional property, where expansion or redevelopment is complicated by known or potential releases of hazardous substances or petroleum. 
• “Former coal mine” means a location that was, but is no longer, used in connection with the extraction of coal from its natural deposit in the earth 

The meeting started on time at 10 a.m. 

All members of the board were present: Committee Chair Meeka Owens, Vice Chair Ryan James, Council Member Mark Jeffreys and Council Member Seth Walsh. City Solicitor Jerry Seaburn was also present.

There were six people in the audience – the guest speaker and the presentation speakers. The audio and media specialist was present in the back left corner of the room. 

Intro:

Committee Chair Meeka Owens opened the meeting by saying that ground was broken on the 10-MW Center Hill Solar project in Winton Hills. The city-owned Center Hill Landfill site, a brownfield, is currently being converted into a solar farm.   

Scheduled Presentation: Policy Opportunity for Clean Energy Development: House Bill 15 and Priority Investment Areas (PIAs) 

Presented by Ollie Kroner and Nikki Vandivort from the OES (Office of Environment & Sustainability); Dylan Borchers (an energy attorney for the Columbus office of Bricker, Graydon & Wyatt LLC (a law firm); Kate Moran & Nick Revetta from Kimley-Horn (a private civil engineering firm). The presentation was submitted by City Manager Sheryl M. M. Long and sponsored by City Manager Transmittal Presentation.  

Kroner (center of presentation seating arrangement) opened the presentation by praising the city’s Green Cincinnati Plan and how the city is making good moves to address the energy crisis. (The Green Cincinnati Plan has 30 goals, 40 strategies and 130 actions to advance the sustainability, equity and resilience of Cincinnati.)

Vandivort (seated left of center) presented the Municipal Investment Fund Phase 1 slide. She said the  survey and report were funded by a grant, and that they were working to attract both public and private funding. The report was prepared by local experts and focuses on how Ohio House Bill 15 could be leveraged by the City of Cincinnati for its Green Cincinnati Plan. House Bill 15 was passed in August 2025 and codified into state energy law that brownfields and former coal mines are now PIAs. Former coal mines can now be used for battery and clean energy storage. She praised the city for being innovative in taking advantage of brownfields for future clean energy and storage usage. 

Kroner expanded on how House Bill 15 promotes new clean energy generation and battery storage and allows customers to self-generate energy. The bill expands the framework for possible power generation by allowing customers to store their generated energy off site from where the power was generated (i.e., if you produce solar energy at home, it can be stored elsewhere at a secondary battery location). The bill also designates PIAs tax-exempt n for five years and expedites the permitting process and the designation process to a two-step process.  

First step: a local ordinance (city, county, etc.) proposes for a site to be designated as a PIA. Second step: Site is evaluated by a licensed director for approval.

Dylan Borchers (seated right of center) clarified that designated PIAs can only be brownfields or coal mines and that the purpose of their report was to survey and identify potential sites for the city to designate as PIAs. Since the report’s data was limited by the fact that brownfields are self-reported, Dylan warned the council that the number of possible sites was lower than expected.  

The report used a four-tier analysis to rank possible PIAs. Tier 1) Access location qualifications to be designated as a PIA. Tier 2) If the surveyed sites were suitable for energy infrastructure (wind, solar and battery storage). Tier 3) Permitting conditions (For example, does the site need an OPSB review). Tier 4 Site Location (is it located on a flood plain or within a residential area?) [It appears that a site’s rank in each of the tiers was combined for an overall scorce.]  

The report found that 66 possible sites within Hamilton County could be recommended for consideration as PIAs. There were 23 sites within the city of Cincinnati that could be recommended – one of high suitability, 20 of moderate suitability and two of low suitability.   

The report will be completed and turned into the council by the end of the month.

Vandivort stated that Hamilton County will also receive a copy of the report/the presentation’s findings. Next steps will include reaching out to the owners of potential sites, as these are private sites/not city owned sites, and collaborating with owners for road map designation.  

Questions/Discussion by Council 

Chairperson Meeka Owens asked how the city can increase the number of PIA designations.  

Borchers clarified that a brownfield is an area of land, contaminated by chemicals, herbicides or other contaminates. The private owner must be willing to volunteer or self-report the land to the Ohio EPA in order for it to be designated as a brownfield. 

There is a lot that can happen as a result of a track of land being designated a brownfield. For example; a consent order can be issued by a judge to require the cleanup of the contaminated land. There are potential legal or financial consequences with reporting contaminated land for owners, with Borchers calling it a “can of worms.” He eventually trailed off in his explanation, but he appeared to be implying that it would not be easy to encourage land owners to self-report.  

Borchers (possibly) also said people can apply to become certified professionals who can survey and certify possible PIAs. 

Owens asked about the full potential of the reported PIAs and about two specific sites owned by the court. She also asked about next best steps for the future. 

The presenters clarified that the report did not cover any specific sites and instead was a general overview of potential PIA sites, regulatory context and possible emerging tools and methods for developing those PIAs. The report offers ideas that should work to utilize any available brownsite, and highlights the best opportunities to take advantage of the policies and grants created by House Bill 15.

For instance, it was clarified that even sites ranked for lower PIA suitability, (ranked lower due to being smaller in acreage) did not mean that those sites were useless and that the report explores more specific applications for smaller sites. (For example, battery storage for nearby apartment complexes.) Higher ranking sites are just the easiest to develop at the moment. The presenters clarified that they were presenting an early draft of the report to pique the council’s interest. 

Vice Chair Ryan James praised the city for addressing the affordability and energy crisis and acknowledged all of the hard work involved. He also asked about whether the city had benefited from the grant funding.

The presenters clarified that the city had benefited from the grant and report, and the city would have to compete for grants from the state. The city can stay competitive by continuing to invest in clean energy grid infrastructure and create actionable plans for brownfields. 

Council Member Mark Jeffreys asked about a highly ranked site. 

The presenters compared the site to the centerhill landfill, in that it has lots of acreage, would require cleanup of the site’s buildings, doesn’t have a lot of trees (though a shade analysis of the land may be required for solar panels), and is otherwise very developable.   

There were no questions from Council MemberSeth Walsh. 

In closing, Owens praised the efforts of the University of Cincinnati, Green Umbrella  and the city’s continued and collaborative efforts to enact the Green Cincinnati Plan. 

MOTION 2. 202601437 MOTION, submitted by Council Members Owens, Jeffreys, James and Walsh, WE MOVE that the City Administration work to ensure that the Climate Equity Indicator Report is updated prior to passage of the 2028 Green Cincinnati Plan. FURTHER WE MOVE that the City Administration identified the funding needed to complete the revised Climate Equity Indicator Report. 

Motion passed without objection.

The meeting adjourned  at 11 a.m. 

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