3 solar farms, Columbia Gas project get state OK
State regulators have signed off on three more solar farms and a project that will expand natural gas service in the rapidly growing area from northwestern Franklin County into Delaware and Union counties.
Columbia Gas of Ohio Northern Columbus Loop project will be built on Columbia’s
preferred route through Liberty Township in Delaware County and Jerome Township in Union County, according to the Ohio Power Siting Board, which approved the project on Thursday. The state agency approves construction of new sources of electricity and gas pipelines.
“Columbia Gas is pleased with today’s decision from the Ohio Power Siting Board,” the company said in a statement. “This is an important step in serving the growing needs of communities in northwestern Franklin County, southeastern Union County and Delaware County.”
The pipeline will be about 16 miles long, consisting of 12 miles of 24-inch steel high pressure pipe and 4 miles of 16-inch steel high pressure pipe.
The project will bring natural gas from pipelines on the eastern side of
the leisure and hospitality sector shed 1,500 jobs and the sector that covers trade, transportation and utilities lost 900 jobs. Government employment fell by 200.
The professional and business services sector added 6,300 jobs last month, the most of any sector.
The unemployment report did show that 35,400 people jumped into the labor force last month and that nearly all of them found jobs.
The report is made up of two surveys, one of employers and one of households, and sometimes they produce data that appears to go in different directions.
The growth in the labor force does come as the state has ended many of the extra unemployment programs put in place because of the coronavirus.
Even with the increase in August, Ohio’s labor force needs about 260,000 workers to get back to where it was before the pandemic. The state is short about 254,000 jobs from before the pandemic. mawilliams@dispatch.com @Bizmarkwilliams