A long-dormant brownfield site in Cincinnati is being transformed into one of the largest renewable energy investments in the city's history. The $24 million Center Hill Solar Array broke ground last April on a former landfill that had sat unused for years. When complete in early 2027, it will generate enough clean electricity to power roughly 1,700 homes annually and cut greenhouse gas emissions by about 16,000 metric tons per year.
The city is partnering with Austin-based UPower Energy to develop 10 megawatts of solar capacity on the 64-acre site. The electricity will flow through the grid to municipal facilities, helping stabilize city energy costs and shielding taxpayers from future rate volatility. As Cincinnati's sustainability director Oliver Kroner put it, the goal was to turn a liability into a community asset.
Financing the project required some creative thinking. The city originally received a Solar for All grant, but when the Trump administration abruptly cancelled that program, Cincinnati and UPower had to rethink their approach. Aware that owning energy generation outright would offer the greatest long-term cost advantages and project control — but that city funds alone couldn't cover the whole scope — the city and UPower landed on the two-part structure, with each party owning 4.9 megawatts of generation.
UPower was chosen partly for its innovative mounting system, which doesn't penetrate the landfill cap — a critical detail given the shifting ground beneath. The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act also played a key role, creating tax incentives for clean energy developments on brownfields and making the whole project financially viable.
