The project is said to provide $18 million in local tax revenue over the lifetime of the project to support public services, including $14 million to Urbana City Schools, in addition to non-tax payments RWE has proposed to neighbors or local services, according to Hackett Landefeld, development manager for the project.
The project is currently in pre-application status with the Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB), and company officials plan to submit their application in February. Pending approvals, they plan to start construction in the spring of 2028 and begin producing power in 2029.
“The Hillclimber Solar & Storage project will deliver reliable, affordable energy to the region while supporting local public services with millions of dollars in new, long-term revenue,” Landefeld said.
“As part of the public planning process, our team engages with local leaders and neighbors to take feedback and to answer questions the community may have. We look forward to additional opportunities to engage collaboratively with the public throughout the development process.”
In January, Champaign County Prosecuting Attorney Kevin Talebi filed objections to the project with the OPSB, on behalf of the Urbana Twp. Board of Trustees and Champaign County Commissioners, noting Hillclimber Solar, LLC’s “non-compliance with the restrictions imposed by the board of commissioners,” according to Talebi.
County commissioners passed a resolution in September 2025, with an effective date in October 2025, restricting where wind and solar facilities can be located, pursuant with Senate Bill 52 (SB 52). In November 2025, they passed a second resolution prohibiting the construction of this particular facility.
Urbana Twp. trustees also passed a resolution to enforce the SB 52 restriction passed by the county commissioners.
SB 52, which passed in 2021, allows a board of county commissioners to prohibit the construction of utility-scale wind or solar facilities altogether or in certain designated zones in unincorporated areas.
“It is our position that the solar project proposed by Hillclimber Solar is not exempt from the requirements of SB 52 and the application as submitted should be rejected by the (OPSB),” Talebi said.
“Our state legislature has made it clear that local governmental agencies are in the best position to decide what projects are most suitable for their communities ... I will expend the necessary resources of my office to protect our community’s ability to maintain self-rule and preserve local control regarding the approval of utility projects consistent with the principals established by SB 52.”
In Talebi’s letter to the OPSB, he said it “does not appear” Hillclimber Solar took steps “in a timely manner” to exempt the project from SB 52 requirements and is prohibited from filing an application. He said if it’s filed, the OPSB can’t accept an application for a certificate and can’t certify the application is complete without “an explicit showing of evidence” by Hillclimber that the project isn’t subject to the SB 52 requirements.
Landefeld said this letter of objection raised by Talebi surrounds the project’s status relating to SB 52 provisions, and the project will provide relevant documentation in its application to the OPSB.
RWE officials held two public community meetings about the proposed solar facility in October and November.
Landefeld said the current project boundary represents a “significant reduction in scale” from the previously planned 1,094-acre boundary after getting resident feedback. The initial project had part of the solar facility on 200 acres of South Dugan and Sloan roads, as well as between State Route 54, Dolly Varden, Pisgah and Short Cut roads, with the storage system on Three Mile and Sloan roads near East State Route 29.
At the first open house, company officials presented their project layout and received feedback from the community (most notably from neighbors who lived along South Dugan and Sloan roads). Based off that, they decided to remove the section of more than 200 acres from the northwest end of the project “in order to avoid adjacency to what was then the most densely-populated residential area on the project boundary,” Landefeld said.
In RWE officials’ letters they sent to each property owner and affected tenant within the project area, they told them about the two public community meetings and explained the certification process.
To be able to construct, operate and maintain a solar project, RWE has to apply for and obtain permission from the OPSB for a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need.
The board will review the application to determine whether it’s complete and meets all requirements to be considered. If so, the board will conduct an investigation of the application and issue a report of its findings and hold a local public hearing in the area where the project will be built before hosting an adjudicatory hearing in Columbus.
The criteria the board uses to review applications includes: the basis of the need for the facility, the nature of the probable environmental impact, if the facility represents the minimum adverse environmental impact, if it will comply with the Ohio Revised Code, if it is of public interest, the impact on the viability as agricultural land, and if the facility incorporates maximum feasible water conservation practices.
After the hearings, the board will issue a decision on the application based on that criteria. If an applicant isn’t satisfied with the decision, they can submit a rehearing application, and if the board denies the rehearing application, the applicant can appeal to the Ohio Supreme Court.
“We expect that the Board will conclude, as we believe, that the Project will benefit the community, the region, and Ohio,” company officials have said.
For more information about the project, visit RWE’s website at tinyurl.com/4c6p79zf.
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