Dive Brief:
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Exelon has filed a notification letter with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio to build a 200 MW wind farm in Seneca County, according to media reports.
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It could be several months before Exelon submits its formal application, according to a Platts report.
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The wind farm would be the first in Ohio for Exelon, which is better known as an operator of nuclear power plants.
Dive Insight:
Wind power has had a tough time getting a foothold in Ohio. Two years ago, Gov. John Kasich (R) signed a bill that froze the state's renewable energy and energy efficiency standards at 2.5% until 2017. And last year, a 12-member panel of Ohio legislators recommended that freeze be kept indefinitely.
To date, the state has only two large wind firms, Iberdrola’s 304 MW Blue Creek wind farm and EDP Renewables North America’s 99 MW Timber Road II wind farm.
Although the Ohio wind farm would be the first in the state for Exelon, it would add to a portfolio that totals 1,500 MW and has wind farms in 10 states. Most of Exelon’s generation fleet, however, is powered by nuclear power, and that has put Exelon at odds with some wind power advocates.
Wind power often causes low and even negative power prices in the Midwest where Exelon operates many of its nuclear plants. That has prompted Exelon to back measures that support clean energy standards that give financial credit for nuclear power’s clean attributes while advocating for the phasing out of wind power subsidies. That opposition resulted in Exelon losing its board seat on the American Wind Energy Association in 2012.