By Chris Spittal
Staff Writer
Rep. Michael Skindell said that while driving through New York state on a
recent trip to Boston, he passed a number of trucks hauling massive pieces of
wind turbines. He immediately realized Ohio had missed an opportunity.
Though it has a strong manufacturing base, Skindell said, he knew those parts
were not made in Ohio.
"We have the manufacturing capabilities, but we're not doing it because we
don't have a standard," he said.
With a renewable portfolio standard in place, Ohio could become a leader in
renewable energies and boost the economy by creating manufacturing jobs, he
explained.
Earlier this week, Skindell, a Democrat from Lakewood, unveiled a plan that
would set Ohio on a course to receive 20 percent of its energy from renewable
sources by 2018.
Co-sponsored by Rep. Bob Hagan, D-Youngstown, the bill would require electric
utilities offering services in Ohio to provide 2 percent of their energy from
renewable sources such as wind, solar, biomass and low-impact hydroelectric
facilities beginning in 2009, increasing by 2 percent each year until 2018.
"Renewable energy is the wave of the future," Skindell said, adding an RPS
will bring jobs to the state and spur economic development. "We need to act upon
it in order to be competitive."
The plan comes a little more than two weeks after Gov. Ted Strickland
announced his energy policy, which would require at least 25 percent of
electricity sold in Ohio be provided by advanced energy technologies by 2025.
The plan includes renewable energies, as well as nuclear and clean coal
technology.
Skindell said Strickland and his staff were aware he was developing his RPS
proposal when the governor was crafting his plan, which is not solely an
RPS.
Skindell's bill is a response to Strickland's challenge to the legislature to
improve upon his plan, just as it did with the governor's higher education
proposal earlier this year.
The proposal is an amended version of legislation Skindell and Hagan have
been advocating for the past five years, Skindell said. The bill was changed in
order to address advances in technology, include a requirement for energy to be
produced by hydrogen fuel cells and to focus on wind production in Northeast
Ohio.
"I think it's great that it actually is specifying using only renewable
sources," said Amy Gomberg, spokeswoman for Environment Ohio, a group that
earlier urged the governor to include an RPS in his plan. "We're really excited
about it."
Ohio has fallen behind a bit, she added, as 25 other states already have
enacted some form of an RPS.
"These standards are not a complicated measure," Gomberg said, noting an
investment would help create jobs and boost the economy. "This would be a great
step for Ohio."
Skindell said that by not having a plan in place, Ohio already has lost the
ability to create jobs, and it may soon lose jobs if an RPS is not enacted.
"We're at a crossroads right now," he said. "If we don't act soon, (jobs) are
going to go to other states."
A renewable standard would create and attract thousands of industrial,
manufacturing and construction jobs, as well as benefit Ohio's agricultural
sector, according to Skindell.
Skindell's plan would increase the usage of renewable energies by just 2
percent each year, with 1 percent of each increase required to come from wind
energy.
"A number of other states have a more aggressive standard than that," he
said. "My standard is something that can be achieved."
While half of the renewable energy required under the proposal would come
from wind, 250 megawatts of that energy must be sourced from wind farms on Lake
Erie, one of the many areas of Ohio that could be developed as such.
A wind farm on Lake Erie would be the first freshwater wind farm in the
world, Skindell added.
"We could be a leader," he said.
Hagan said since utility companies have given "lip service" to the renewable
energy issue since he first introduced it with Skindell during his time in the
Ohio Senate, it was time for lawmakers to form a plan to create jobs and boost
the state's economy.
"If the electric industry is either unwilling or unable to provide Ohioans
with the clean, reliable and affordable electricity they desire, then it is up
to policymakers in Columbus to force renewable standards and provide
incentives," he said.
Gomberg said she hopes to be involved with the bill through the legislative
process, as well as any other bill proposing an RPS. Rep. Jim McGregor, a
Gahanna Republican, currently is developing a proposal that would require 20
percent of Ohio's energy to come from renewable sources by 2020, she added.
"It's just great to see there's so much support of renewable energy," she
said.
Both Skindell and Gomberg said an RPS for Ohio must be completed by year's
end, or it would represent yet another missed opportunity for the state.
