COLUMBUS — The Ohio Power Siting Board recently approved the construction of a 250 megawatt natural gas-fired electric generation facility in Licking County.
The Socrates the Younger (STY) Power Generation Facility will operate “behind-the-meter” to serve the electric load of an adjacent data center and will not be physically connected to the electric power grid. Sidecat, LLC, an affiliate of Meta Platforms, Inc. will consume the power generated by the facility.
Will-Power OH, LLC will construct and operate the power plant on 109 acres at the southwest corner of Clover Valley Road and Harrison Road NW in New Albany, Ohio. The project will incorporate 116 MW of battery energy storage to accommodate fluctuations in demand and mitigate unplanned outages.
Will-Power OH must adhere to 36 conditions designed to minimize potential impacts during construction and operation.
This is the fifth behind-the-meter natural gas power plant approved by the OPSB in New Albany, Ohio.
Socrates North and Socrates South, both 200 MW power plants, are under construction. These plants will also provide power for data centers for Sidecat LLC, Meta’s affiliate
EdgeConneX has two power plants with battery storage under construction in New Albany — PowerConneX I, a 120 MW plant and PowerConneX II, a 216 MW plant — that will power a nearby data center.
A third EdgeConneX plant — the proposed 430 MW PowerConneX III — is in the pre-application phase with the OPSB. If approved, it would require a new 24-mile, 24-inch natural gas pipeline to be constructed to feed the plant.
Will-Power OH is in the pre-application phase with another behind-the-meter natural gas power plant and battery storage, the 500 MW Neo Power Generational Facility, that would also power nearby data centers.
More information regarding the STY facility and maps of the project area are available online at dis.puc.state.oh.us by searching case 26-0169-EL-BLN.
Solar decisions
The Ohio Power Siting Board approved on June 24 Madison Fields Solar Project, LLC’s plan to update its vegetation management plan to incorporate sheep grazing in combination with mowing.
Madison Fields, located on about 1,900 acres in Pike Township, in Madison County, plans to use sheep grazing between March 15 and Dec. 15, dependent on weather conditions. A 65-acre portion of the project, located on the southern end of the project site, will serve as the initial grazing area with an initial maximum stocking rate of 260 sheep. The grazing plan was developed using U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resource Conservation Service guidance.
Madison Fields solar farm, which became operational in 2024, is also part of a collaboration with Ohio State University, where they are researching growing forage crops between solar panels and other agrivoltaics practices.
In separate business, the OPSB denied Sloopy Solar Energy, LLC’s proposal to construct a 180 megawatt solar-powered electric generation facility in Harmony Township, Clark County. The OPSB said that the unanimous opposition of local governments in the project area, as well as the overwhelming public opposition to the project, outweighed the positive attributes of the project.
The board also approved a request made by Hillclimber Solar, LLC to withdraw it proposal to construct a solar-powered electric generation facility in Champaign County and denied a second application for rehearing filed by Crossroads Solar I, LLC regarding its plans to construct a solar-powered electric generation facility in Knox County.
A copy of the June 24 orders and entries is available at dis.puc.state.oh.us in case numbers 26-34-EL-BGA (Madison Fields), 25-636-EL-BGN (Sloopy Solar), 25-904-EL-BGN (Hillclimber Solar) and 25-142-EL-BGN (Crossroads Solar).
