Green-power pushback

Ohio bill would kill rule that utilities get more electricity from renewable, advanced sources

By Jim Siegel
The Columbus Dispatch
Friday September 9, 2011

Three years after legislators voted nearly unanimously to require Ohio’s power companies to meet new green-energy standards, at least a few Republicans say it’s time to repeal the rules to save jobs and avoid higher electricity costs.

Environmental groups are sharply criticizing the plan.

Sen. Kris Jordan, R-Powell, introduced a bill this week that would eliminate Ohio’s Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard, which requires that at least 12.5 percent of electricity generation come from renewable sources by 2025, and another 12.5 percent come from other advanced-energy sources such as nuclear power and clean coal.

“With one of the worst recessions in recent memory still fresh in our minds, the last thing we need to do in Ohio is drive up the cost of energy for both Ohio families and Ohio businesses, and that’s exactly what the Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard does,” Jordan said in a release.

He pointed to a study by the American Tradition Institute, which argued that the standards would force Ohioans to pay $8.6 billion more for electricity between 2016 and 2025, with negligible environmental benefit. The Washington, D.C.-based research group has challenged environmental regulations in a number of states.

Read the rest of the Columbus Dispatch story here.

Learn more about American Tradition Institute’s economic impact analysis of Ohio’s Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard here.

ATI’s Ohio AEPS study is here.

For an interview with American Tradition Institute executive director Paul Chesser, call (202)670-2680 or email [email protected].