Dive Brief:
- An Ohio lawmaker wants the General Assembly to do away with the requirement that utilities buy half of their renewable energy from in-state sources and would ease rules requiring utilities to invest in energy efficiency. Ohio law mandates that utilities get 12.5% of their power from renewables by 2025.
- With his proposed legislation, Sen. Bill Seitz, a Cincinnati Republican, has riled environmental groups who fought for the requirements and assert Seitz' effort would result in a loss of jobs in Ohio's green-energy sector.
- Seitz thinks the current rules encourages "economic rent-seekers who like to preserve their protected status."
- “This bill is a classic example of a solution in search of a problem,” said Jed Thorp, Ohio chapter manager for the Sierra Club. “These changes are going to benefit a small handful of companies at the expense of the rest of Ohio’s ratepayers.”
Dive Insight:
Seitz's measure is supported by utilities such as FirstEnergy and large industrial companies, that want more flexibility. The problem with the proposal, environmental groups argue, is that allowing utilities to procure renewable energy entirely outside of Ohio's borders, would stymie any further renewable energy development in the state and hurt those projects currently under development.
