The Ground Rules: News & events

Nov. 3 council meeting: a full room, 11 speakers, answers promised later

2026-11-08T18:00:00-05:00

Residents filled the council chamber on Nov. 3, and 11 spoke about the gas plants. The city attorney asked council not to question city staff that night, because of cases still before the state siting board. The mayor said council was there to listen, might not get to every concern that evening, and would give answers "as quickly as possible," without giving a date. No one answered speakers' questions during public comment.¹

Who was there

Every seat was taken. People who were there counted 17 more standing. The audience area has about 50 chairs, by attendees' estimate, so roughly 65 to 70 people came. These counts are attendees', not the city's. The mayor said there were 12 speaker cards, and 11 people spoke.¹

How the meeting was set up

The agenda listed a presentation by Michael Williams, executive director of the Ohio Power Siting Board. It had no item on the PowerConneX 3 settlement the city's lawyer had signed the day before.² The mayor said the presentation was for council to hear from the board, not a public question-and-answer session (at 0:03:14). Before public comment, the city attorney asked council not to question staff that night, because the city is negotiating in cases still before the board. The mayor asked speakers to keep to three minutes (0:55:27 to 0:56:46).¹

What residents asked for

Who authorized the city to sign the PowerConneX 3 settlement, and when. The resident asked twice and got no reply. They also asked for a roll-call vote on a motion they had sent council, and said they had filed a records request (1:21:35 to 1:26:28).
Public air monitors in the business park and a few miles out, with the readings online (0:57:18).
Someone looking at the combined emissions of all seven plants, not one at a time (1:04:01).
A pause until Ohio EPA reports on health and the environment (1:10:32).
A local meeting where the city explains the projects and listens, before it recommends approval (1:40:16).
Several speakers, including two physicians, raised fine-particle pollution and children's health, and asked council to do more (1:17:38 to 1:34:57).

We haven't named residents. The video does.¹

What officials said

On monitoring: staff said a sustainability plan is proposed in the 2027 budget, and independent air monitoring "could be" one of its first recommendations. If council approves it, staff said the city would seek proposals by the end of January and pick a consultant by the end of March (0:49:33 to 0:52:32).
On the city's approach: staff said the city chose to take part in the state cases rather than oppose them, because opposing and appealing was unlikely to succeed (0:29:31 to 0:38:12).
On complaints: Williams said residents can bring complaints to the siting board when a plant doesn't meet its conditions, such as limits on noise (0:43:06 to 0:45:13).
On the settlement: no one said the city had signed it the day before.¹

The Reporting Project wrote that "about a dozen" residents told the mayor and council to "do better."³

Next step

Council meets again Tuesday, Nov. 17, at 6:30 p.m. at Village Hall.⁴ The question of who authorized the settlement signature is still open. We'll check the Nov. 3 minutes when the city posts them.

What you could bring up on Nov. 17

Sources

City of New Albany, City Council meeting video, Nov. 3, 2026. Times are from the start of the video. The host's transcript is "compiled from uncorrected Closed Captioning," so we paraphrase it. swagit.com
City of New Albany, Council Meeting Agenda, Nov. 3, 2026. (PDF)
Alan Miller, "New Albany mayor and council told to 'do better' in protecting area residents from gas-fired power plant pollutants," The Reporting Project, Nov. 5, 2026. thereportingproject.org
City of New Albany, "2026 New Albany City Council Regular Meeting Schedule." (PDF)

Ohio EPA takes comments on the Socrates the Younger air permit until Dec. 3

2026-11-08T12:00:00-05:00

Ohio EPA is taking public comments on draft air permit P0139969 for Socrates the Younger, a gas plant being built for Meta. Comments are due by 11:59 p.m. on Dec. 3.¹

The draft covers 20 gas turbines and 4 gas engines at 3439 Clover Valley Rd.¹ The Power Siting Board approved the 250 MW plant in June 2026.² The air permit is a separate decision. It sets the plant's emission limits.³

Ohio EPA hasn't scheduled a hearing. Comments go through Ohio EPA's online comment page, where you can attach up to five files, or by mail to Ohio EPA Central District Office, P.O. Box 1049, Columbus, OH 43216-1049, with the permit number.¹

The contact at Ohio EPA is Max Moore, 614-644-2160.¹ A final air permit can be appealed to the Environmental Review Appeals Commission within 30 days of the decision.⁴

Next step

Open the draft permit (PDF), then send a comment by 11:59 p.m. on Dec. 3. Comments about the air carry the most weight: emission limits, how they're monitored, stack heights, and how many hours the diesel generators may run.

Prepare a comment for Ohio EPA

Sources

Ohio EPA, public comment page for draft permit P0139969, "Will-Power OH, LLC - STY," viewed Nov. 5, 2026. ohioepa.commentinput.com
"Ohio Power Siting Board approves fifth natural gas power plant in New Albany," Farm and Dairy, June 30, 2026 (farmanddairy.com); OPSB case 26-0169-EL-BLN (docket).
City of New Albany, "Energy Centers: Frequently Asked Questions," Oct. 2026. (PDF)
Ohio EPA final permit P0137967 cover letter, Aug. 19, 2025, filed in OPSB case 25-0090-EL-BLN. PUCO docket

The PowerConneX 3 air permit figures don't agree with each other

2026-11-08T11:00:00-05:00

Ohio EPA's Aug. 6 draft air permit for PowerConneX 3 prints facility totals on page 3. They are far higher than the yearly limits it sets for the same 30 gas engines on page 27.¹ The siting board's staff reported in October that Ohio EPA's review was on hold over calculation errors.²

PowerConneX New Albany 3 is a proposed 450 MW plant of 30 gas engines for an EdgeConneX data center campus.² It is waiting for a Power Siting Board decision, and the developer, the City of New Albany and the board's staff have signed a settlement recommending approval.³

What the documents say

Page 3 of the draft permit lists yearly facility totals. They are 130 tons of nitrogen oxides (NOx), 142 tons of fine particles (PM2.5) and 174 tons of carbon monoxide (CO). Page 27 sets rolling 12-month limits for the 30 gas engines of 14.0 tons of NOx and 16.4 tons of PM2.5.¹ The application has three different sets of totals.⁴ These figures cover different equipment and assumptions, and none of them has been reconciled in public.

Tons per year. Both draft-permit sets include startups and shutdowns. Page 3 assumes 24 of the 30 engines run and 6 are in reserve.
Document and table	Covers	NOx	PM2.5	CO
Application, Table 3-1 (July 24, 2026)⁴	All emission units	161.3	178.1	218.8
Application, Table 3-3⁴	Non-redundant equipment	104.0	91.6	210.9
Application, Table 3-4⁴	With operating restrictions	130.26	142.19	172.52
Draft permit, p. 3 (Aug. 6, 2026)¹	Facility total, as printed	130	142	174
Draft permit, p. 3¹	Gas engines P001–P030 row	117	142	173
Draft permit, p. 27¹	Gas engines P001–P030, rolling 12-month limit	14.0	16.4	173.3

The arithmetic on page 3

Page 3's printed totals don't match the sum of its own rows. The rows add up to 132.53 tons of NOx and 175.22 tons of CO. Its formaldehyde total (18.9 tons) is lower than its gas-engine row alone (19.0).¹

The draft's PM2.5 and VOC figures are about 24/30 of the application's Table 3-1 figures.^1,4 That may reflect the assumption that 6 engines stay in reserve, but we haven't confirmed it.

What Ohio EPA has said

"…on hold awaiting revised modeling due to annual emission rate calculation errors."

Siting board staff, on Ohio EPA's review of the air permit, Oct. 16, 2026²

We hadn't seen corrected figures or an explanation from Ohio EPA as of Nov. 6, 2026. If either is published, we'll add it to this entry with the date. The Downwind map uses the page 3 totals for now and marks them as provisional.

Next step

The Power Siting Board still accepts public comments on PowerConneX 3, case 26-0361-EL-BGN, until it decides.⁵ You could ask the board not to decide until Ohio EPA publishes corrected emission figures.

Write to the siting board

Sources

Ohio EPA, draft permit-to-install P0140005, EdgeConneX New Albany North (PowerConneX New Albany 3), Aug. 6, 2026, pp. 3 and 27. Comment page: ohioepa.commentinput.com; the draft is on Ohio EPA eDocs.
OPSB Staff, "Staff Report of Investigation," case 26-0361-EL-BGN, Oct. 16, 2026, including pp. 26–27 on the Ohio EPA permit. PUCO docket
Joint Stipulation and Recommendation, OPSB case 26-0361-EL-BGN, filed Nov. 2, 2026. PUCO docket
Trinity Consultants for EdgeConneX, "Exhibit E: Permit to Install Application," Tables 3-1, 3-3 and 3-4, OPSB case 26-0361-EL-BGN, filed July 24, 2026. PUCO docket
OPSB case 26-0361-EL-BGN, case record, viewed Nov. 5, 2026. PUCO docket

What we're asking the school district about air quality

2026-11-08T10:00:00-05:00

We're asking the New Albany-Plain Local school district to publish the air-quality analyses that cover its school campus, and to arrange an independent review and a public briefing on them.

Seven gas plants totaling 1,936 megawatts are running, being built or awaiting approval in and next to the New Albany business park.¹ Each one needs an air permit from Ohio EPA, which sets its emission limits.² For one of them, PowerConneX 3, the siting board's staff reported that Ohio EPA's review was on hold "awaiting revised modeling due to annual emission rate calculation errors."³

The Downwind map gives a rough picture of where the exhaust goes. It is a simplified screening model with approximate plant locations, not a regulatory study. The modeling behind the air permits is the official analysis, and we want the district to ask for it and explain it to families.

What we're asking for

Please identify and publish the air-quality analyses that cover the school campus, including school buildings, playgrounds and athletic fields. Please explain which existing and proposed power plants those analyses include, and how they account for background pollution and different operating conditions.

We're also asking the district to arrange an independent technical review and a public briefing. Residents should be able to understand the findings, what is still uncertain, and whether more monitoring is needed.

We haven't verified the distance from the campus to each plant, so we aren't saying how close they are. We'll add that once the plant locations are checked.

Next step

Bring this request to a school board meeting, in your own words, or send it to the board in writing. School board and council meetings are listed under upcoming dates.

Sources

Alan Miller, "8-year-old to officials considering 7th power plant for New Albany data centers," The Reporting Project, Oct. 23, 2026. thereportingproject.org
City of New Albany, "Energy Centers: Frequently Asked Questions," Oct. 2026. (PDF)
OPSB Staff, "Staff Report of Investigation," case 26-0361-EL-BGN, Oct. 16, 2026, including pp. 26–27 on the Ohio EPA permit. PUCO docket