Controversial Ohio State University Gas Plant Proposal Clears First Hurdle

COLUMBUS - Today, the Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB) approved a siting certificate for the Ohio State University’s proposed gas plant. Siting approval for this plant comes despite significant public opposition from the OSU and central Ohio community which have no interest in a new gas plant on campus next to a major hospital complex. What’s more, OPSB’s approval comes after OSU sought and received a waiver for the gas plant to not have to go through a full air permitting process.

Neil Waggoner, Senior Campaign Representative for Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign issued the following statement:

“OSU wants to build a gas plant on what is Ohio’s largest university campus in the middle of Columbus--Ohio’s largest city--while that same city is actively seeking to move to 100% renewable energy to meet its needs. OSU seeks to burn gas and increase air pollution at the same time central Ohioans are confronting the impacts of climate change and respiratory impacts of COVID19.

“Chairman Randazzo’s suggestion that students and community members that raised their concerns about the impacts on public health and the environment from this plant were bullying the University are inappropriate. This supposedly unbiased regulator has here and elsewhere demonstrated his clear opposition to renewables, support for dirty energy, and a general coziness with polluters. 

“This proposed plant represents a failure of climate and public health leadership from what is supposed to be Ohio’s flagship university and now the University community may have to bare the brunt of that failure for years to come”

Lizzy Roka, President of The Collegiate Council on World Affairs (CCWA), said:

"Students at OSU let our administration know that a gas plant in the middle of campus, and across from a medical facility is not in our best interest. The OSU administration's plan is not in line with what students and the community want nor does it align with what is needed to tackle the climate crisis. OSU building a new gas plant as the climate crisis worsens is like using gasoline to try and put out a fire. Our voices must be heard!"

OSU has proposed the construction of a new gas power plant on the main campus in Columbus. The plant would increase greenhouse gas emissions and have significant impacts on the environmental quality of life in a dense urban area, while committing the University to drawing a significant proportion of its energy from fossil fuels for years to come. 

The plant will also be a major emitter of particulate matter and nitrogen oxides, contributing to pollution in Franklin County--a county that was, until recently, out of compliance with National Ambient Air Quality Standard for ground-level ozone.