Written by Paul Chesser, originally published in the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich asked for it, and now he has it: evidence that so-called “renewable” energy mandates raise electricity costs, subtract jobs and harm the economy.

Earlier this month our organization released a study of Ohio’s Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard, and the findings will not encourage citizens of a state struggling with still high unemployment and stagnant population growth.

If the AEPS is kept, consumers can expect to pay $8.6 billion more for their electricity between 2016 and 2025, while seeing net losses in jobs, annual wages and disposable income because of the mandate.

Ohio’s AEPS requires that the state’s utilities generate 25 percent of their power from “alternative” sources by the year 2025, with half that amount (12.5 percent) required to come from “renewable” sources such as wind or solar.

When he campaigned last year, Kasich said he would support a repeal of AEPS “if it drives up costs to consumers.” An uptick was expected before the law passed, since it contained a provision to cap costs from the mandate to three percent per year. But that stipulation has so many holes in it, that utilities can easily exceed the three percent with other compliance and surcharge mechanisms.

Unsurprisingly, the renewables-driven hidden tax on everyone’s electric bills will flow throughout Ohio’s already beleaguered economy, and will serve as a heavier anchor upon it. Among the findings of our study - conducted by the economists at the Beacon Hill Institute at Suffolk University in Boston - are that Ohio will lose close to 10,000 jobs in 2025 (when the AEPS is supposed to be in full effect), while real disposable income will fall by almost $1.1 billion and net investment in the state will be reduced by $79 million.

Global warming was supposed to be the reason for a broad departure from greenhouse gas emissions (caused by fossil fuels like coal, which generates 84 percent of Ohio’s electricity) in favor of “renewables” like wind and solar. But the weather has failed to cooperate, with no alarming, sustained increases in temperatures, sea level rise or hurricane intensity, as was predicted.

Meanwhile the prescription is really a placebo - or worse. Because of wind’s intermittence, utilities must employ coal- and natural gas-fired generators as backups. Studies have shown that when these fossil fueled power producers are required to constantly ramp up and down, they emit more pollutants (like sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and yes, greenhouse gases) than they would if they ran consistently without wind.

Do Kasich and the General Assembly really need to give repeal of AEPS much more thought?

Originally published in the Cincinnati Enquirer on April 29, 2011.

Comments are closed.