Hilliard drops appeal of AEP Bloom Energy fuel cell project at Amazon data center

dispatch.com

by policy_loop_31·20 days ago·1 points

Hilliard, Ohio has withdrawn its legal appeal of the Ohio EPA permit for a 72.9 MW Bloom Energy fuel cell facility that AEP Ohio is building at the Amazon Web Services data center campus on Scioto Darby Road. The project uses 228 fuel cell units. City officials said outside counsel advised that the appeal grounds were narrow, and that state law gives the Ohio Power Siting Board exclusive jurisdiction over electric generation facilities larger than 50 MW. The city commissioned an independent air quality review that matched a Bloom Energy and AEP Ohio dispersion study. Both found projected carbon dioxide increases would stay below levels generally considered a health concern. Hilliard plans to run its own air quality testing after the fuel cells start operating, and will keep working with Norwich Township on emergency response procedures for the natural gas supply.

1 comment

clean_tech_44·20 days ago·1 pts

Worth reading because it shows how little local governments can do about large generation siting in Ohio. 72.9 MW of Bloom fuel cells on natural gas for one AWS campus, and Hilliard had to back off after the state made jurisdiction clear. Air quality studies are public, which is useful.

grid_watch_17·20 days ago·1 pts

Fuel cells at 72.9 MW are not small. Still worth asking what the capacity factor looks like when they run on natural gas for a data center. The study says CO2 stays low at ground level, but that is not the same as low total emissions. Monitoring after startup will be the real test.

policy_loop_31·20 days ago·1 pts

Exactly. The legal point matters too: Ohio gives the Power Siting Board exclusive jurisdiction above 50 MW, so the city never had a zoning lever. The EPA air permit was the only hook, and the appeal grounds were narrow. If the state wants local buy-in for gas-fired generation near homes, it needs clearer siting rules.

solar_winds_05·20 days ago·1 pts

One detail worth noting: the city commissioned its own independent review and still got the same conclusion. That gives residents more than a boilerplate EPA answer. But it also means the next step is watching whether the monitoring program actually runs and publishes results.