Norwich Township has locked in commitments from AEP Ohio on fire inspector access, first-responder training and incident reporting at the planned fuel cell facility near Hilliard neighborhoods. Two of the township's six safety priorities remain unresolved: evacuation planning and long-term decommissioning protections.

The township laid out its agenda in a statement posted Sept. 17, two days after Hilliard City Council withdrew its legal appeal of the state air permit for the 72.9-megawatt installation at 4186 Scioto Darby Creek Road. As we reported Sept. 15, the city ended a 10-month challenge, saying its chances were narrow under state law.

Norwich Township Trustee Brian Rothenberg told NBC4 the township has pushed for six safety goals since learning about the project. Those six, as the township listed them: independent air monitoring, incident transparency, safety cooperation, evacuation planning, regular AEP updates and decommissioning protections.

Months of negotiation produced concrete results on several fronts. AEP Ohio agreed to share project drawings with area fire departments, walk fire inspectors through the site and offer emergency response training to local crews, according to a City of Hilliard press release. The Ohio Power Siting Board and AEP Ohio also agreed to report incidents to local officials.

The township said it secured commitments toward internal and external air monitoring. At a March 24 special meeting, Rothenberg had called for independent, third-party monitoring inside and outside both the fuel cell site and the adjacent Amazon Web Services (AWS) data center, with written policies for air quality incidents and Norwich Township Fire Department (NTFD) access to the data.

Fire Chief Dave Baird has flagged concerns specific to the technology. He previously told NBC4 that no other project in Ohio uses fuel cells and that the installation would be the second-largest fuel cell system globally. Baird called the relatively untested technology "a great deal of red flags" for fire safety. He also raised the issue of whether natural gas piped to the site would carry the odor additive that helps detect leaks in residential settings, according to the Hilliard Beacon.

At the same March 24 meeting, Baird put an AWS sponsorship of the NTFD's fire prevention safety trailer on hold after learning about the fuel cells, according to township meeting minutes.

The nearest homes in the Darby Glen subdivision sit roughly 800 feet from the facility, according to an air dispersion study by Ramboll.

Hilliard Beacon Elementary School is also nearby.

The township's statement acknowledged "meaningful progress" with the Ohio EPA, Power Siting Board, AWS, AEP and Bloom Energy. But it said work remains on worst-case evacuation planning and financial protections for future decommissioning costs. The fuel cells are described as temporary, which makes the question of who pays to remove them a live issue.

Hilliard resident and data center awareness advocate Amy Swank told NBC4 she remains unsatisfied with the city's withdrawal. She said she is disappointed Hilliard City Council ended its fight and believes officials should have continued negotiations if they cannot confirm the fuel cells are safe.

Hilliard City Council President Emily Cole said in the city's Sept. 15 press release that Hilliard supports the township's ongoing safety review, calling it "exactly the type of oversight this installation requires."

AEP Ohio's project timeline shows construction beginning fall 2026 and the system entering service in early fall 2027. Negotiations between Norwich Township, AEP Ohio and AWS continue.