For Immediate Release Contact: Nancy Lesic, 216.392.9634, [email protected]

Bipartisan group of 32 legislators asks State of Ohio to reconsider “puzzling”, “unusual” ruling that kills Lake Erie wind turbine project

Developer says last week’s corruption developments give additional cause for reconsideration as fossil fuel interests opposed the innovative Icebreaker Wind project.

Columbus – July 29, 2020 – A bipartisan group of 32 legislators from across Northeast Ohio have sent a letter to State of Ohio authorities to reconsider operating restrictions placed on an offshore wind demonstration project in Lake Erie. The legislators allege those restrictions kill the project, and they implore Chairman Sam Randazzo of the Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB) to approve the project without the onerous conditions.

The OPSB imposed a “shutdown condition” mandating the wind farm cease operations every night from March until November, which renders the Icebreaker Wind project financially unfeasible. The condition stunned developers and advocates of the project and represented a reversal of an agreement developers reached with the State last year after the State’s own expert testified under oath the shutdown mandate was not needed. The project is being developed by the Lake Erie Energy Development Corp. (“LEEDCo”).

Senators (R-Chagrin Falls) and Sandra Williams (D-Cleveland), together with Representatives Jeff Crossman (D-Parma) and Dave Greenspan (R-Westlake), championed this bipartisan letter. The legislators represent a broad and diverse cross-section of Northeast Ohio from 11 counties stretching from Huron to Ashtabula, Cuyahoga to Summit, and also Geauga, Mahoning, Medina, Portage and Trumbull counties. Together, the 32 legislators comprise almost a quarter of the entire General Assembly.

“As members of the from Northeast Ohio, we write to object to the Ohio Power Siting Board’s recent Order in the Icebreaker case. Unfortunately, the order includes a last minute poison pill provision that upended the agreement reached among LEEDCo and the technical staffs of the Board and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources…” said the letter to Randazzo sent today. (A copy of the letter is attached).

The letter said the legislators reviewed the facts in the case and that they are “puzzled” about the Board’s ruling, also calling it “unusual”. It said the decision contradicted evidence presented in the case.

Dave Karpinski, president of LEEDCo, thanked the 32 legislators for their strong support. He has previously appealed to Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine to weigh in as well.

“If there ever was a time that Ohio needed a renewable energy project of this magnitude and with this economic impact, it’s now,’’ said Karpinski. “And if there was a time to make sure this project passed the smell test given the unusual circumstances of the decision and the fact that fossil fuel interests were opposing our project, it is most certainly now in light of last week’s developments,” in reference to the HB 6 energy scandal that erupted last week.

LEEDCo in June also asked the OPSB to reconsider its decision, saying the OPSB stepped outside its statutory authority and violated Ohio law.

The letter written by the legislators went on to say: “Our region of the state has patiently awaited approval of Icebreaker for over a decade. We believe the time is now for the Board to approve this innovative demonstration project without the onerous, over-reaching regulatory conditions and allow (Ohio) to reap the economic and environmental benefits.”

The letter also notes that Icebreaker is projected to deliver $250 million to the Northeast Ohio local economy and create over 500 well-paying jobs in the burgeoning offshore wind industry. It would also serve the region’s environmental interests, delivering 20 megawatts of clean power.

The legislators gave the following reasons why the Siting Board should reconsider the order.

• The nighttime shutdown condition contradicts evidence on the record that led technical staffs at both the Siting Board and the Department of Natural Resources to approve the project without the evening shutdown mandate.

• The Order offers no compelling evidence to override the technical staffs at OPSB and ODNR’s favorable recommendation. The nighttime shutdown condition also contradicts the formal finding by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that the project is low risk.

• The Order essentially requires zero impact every night for 8 months, but the statutory standard is merely “minimum” impact, considering economics and technology.

• The Order unlawfully requires two separate approvals – one for construction and a separate subsequent approval to run at nighttime. By law, the OPSB certificate, when granted, is for both constructions and operations.

LEEDCo is a non-profit public-private partnership whose members include the City of Cleveland, the Port of Cleveland, the Cleveland Foundation and Cuyahoga, Lake, Ashtabula and Lorain counties in Ohio and Erie County, PA.

The six-turbine demonstration project was planned to be eight miles off Cleveland’s shoreline. The project was reviewed by more than a dozen state and federal agencies including U.S. Fish and Wildlife, Ohio EPA and others. It has the support of many environmental groups, including the Sierra Club, the Environmental Defense Fund and the Ohio Environmental Council.

# # # #

July 29, 2020

Chairman Sam Randazzo Ohio Power Siting Board 180 E. Broad Street Columbus OH 43215

Re: Icebreaker - OPSB Case No. 16-1871-EL-BGN

Dear Chairman Randazzo,

As members of the Ohio General Assembly from Northeast Ohio, we write to object to the Ohio Power Siting Board’s recent Order in the Icebreaker case. Unfortunately, the Order includes a last-minute “poison pill” provision that upended the agreement reached among LEEDCo and the technical staffs of the Board and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources over a period of many months— and renders the project commercially infeasible. As such, we ask that the Board immediately grant LEEDCo’s request for “reconsideration” and remove the poison pill.

Specifically, the Order requires Icebreaker’s turbines to be indefinitely “feathered,” (i.e., prohibited from rotating and producing any electricity) all night long for eight months of the year. This Shutdown Order and its resulting lost productivity deprives Icebreaker of the critical revenue stream required to repay a construction loan and is therefore a project-killer.

We have reviewed the facts in the case, and we remain puzzled the Board would re-insert the evening Shutdown Order that its own technical staff had determined was not necessary to meet the statutory standard of “minimum adverse impact.” We further believe the highly unusual Shutdown Order is unlawful for the following reasons.

 It contradicts the evidence on the record that led the technical staffs at both the Siting Board and the Department of Natural Resources to approve the project without the Shutdown Order in light of the extensive wildlife protections included.

 The Order offers no compelling evidence to override the technical staffs at OPSB and ODNR’s favorable recommendation. It also contradicts the formal finding by the federal US Fish and Wildlife Service that the project is low risk.

 The Order essentially requires zero impact every night for 8 months, but the statutory standard is merely “minimum” impact, considering economics and technology.

 The Order unlawfully requires two separate approvals – one for construction and a separate subsequent approval to run at nighttime. But by law, the OPSB certificate is for both constructions and operations. The Board does not have authority to bifurcate the certificate.

Our region of the state has patiently awaited approval of Icebreaker for over a decade. We believe the time is now for the Board to approve this innovative demonstration project without onerous, over-reaching regulatory conditions and allow us to reap the economic and environmental benefits.

Icebreaker is projected to deliver $250 million to our local economy and create over 500 well-paying jobs in the burgeoning offshore wind industry. It would also serve the region’s environmental interests, delivering 20 megawatts of clean power. In the spirit of an all-of-the- above energy policy encouraging in-state generation, we urge the Board to adopt the agreement reached among LEEDCo and the technical wildlife experts and allow Ohio to realize these benefits.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Sandra R. Williams Assistant Minority Whip Matt Dolan State Senator, District 21 State Senator, District 24 Minority Leader State Senator, District 25

Sean O’Brien Minority Whip Nickie J. Antonio State Senator, District 32 State Senator, District 28 State Senator, District 23

Michele Lepore-Hagan State Representative, District 58 State Representative, District 11 State Representative, District 37

Rachel Clites State Representative, District 75 State Representative, District 14 State Representative, District 69

Janine Boyd Mike O’Brien John Rogers State Representative, District 9 State Representative, District 64 State Representative, District 60

Kent Smith John Patterson State Representative, District 8 State Representative, District 99 State Representative, District 35

Jeffrey Crossman Joe Miller State Representative, District 15 State Representative, District 56 State Representative, District 38

Jamie Callender Phillip Robinson State Representative, District 61 State Representative, District 12 State Representative, District 6

Dave Greenspan State Representative, District 16 State Representative, District 16 State Representative, District 10

Nathan Manning State Senator, District 13 Michael J. Skindell State Representative, District 55 State Representative, District 13

Emilia Strong Sykes Minority Leader State Representative, District 63 State Representative, District 34