Former Ohio Governor Ted Strickland signed SB 221, the state’s Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard (AEPS), into law in May 2008. The AEPS mandates that 25 percent of all electricity sold in the state come from alternative energy sources by 2025. The law also requires that half that amount – 12.5 percent – come from renewable energy sources including wind, biomass hydropower and, biomass, and solar. The law also specifies that solar power must account for 0.5 percent of electricity used by 2025. The minimum solar requirement increases as a percentage of total electric supply through 2024. Nuclear power and clean coal also qualify under the act.
Ohio’s AEPS also sets up an exchange for state utilities to buy and sell RECs to meet the mandate.
Utilities are also required to meet certain energy efficiency standards by 2024 and a nearly two percent reduction in peak demand by 2018.
SB 221 also sets a cost cap relative to the utility’s ability to meet the AEPS standards. Utilities are exempted if the cost of meeting the mandates exceeds by three percent or more the cost of generating electricity from non-alternatives sources.
Source: Ohio State Legislative Commission SB 221 Analysis