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Energy Program News
For Immediate Release:
2007-10-31
For More Information:
Contact Julian Boggs (614) 460-8732 jboggs@environmentohio.org Senate Passes Renewable Energy Bill
Read our memo on Ohio's Renewable Energy prospects. (Word) Renewable Energy Benchmarks Info. (Word) October 26, 2007 Statement by Erin Bowser, Environment Ohio Director Columbus: The new version of Senate Bill 221, released yesterday, was amended with language that could keep Ohio far behind 25 other states and the District of Columbia that have renewable energy standards. Although the legislation states that renewable energy must constitute at least 12.5% of their total electricity sales by 2025 it precludes the Public Utility Commission from enforcing the standard UNTIL 2025. The original legislation did not include benchmarks for compliance, guidelines for PUCO enforcement or penalties but it did leave the door open for the PUCO to establish compliance mechanisms during the rulemaking process. Without benchmarks for compliance or penalties, Ohio’s utilities will have full discretion to go at their own pace which sends a signal to renewable energy businesses and manufacturers of component parts for renewable technologies that Ohio is not serious about developing a renewable energy market. “We cannot wait until 2025 to get serious about developing clean energy. In order to save existing Ohio jobs and attract new ones, Ohio must come out of this process with a standard that actually signals a commitment to developing renewable energy now,” stated Erin Bowser, Director of Environment Ohio. Out of the twenty-six other renewable energy standards already implemented across the country, twenty-five of them include very specific benchmarks for compliance (see attached break-down by state). In a statewide poll conducted by Public Opinion Strategies, the largest Republican polling firm in the nation, and released early this month by Environment Ohio, 80 percent of Ohio voters surveyed said that they would support requiring utilities to get 20 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2025. Additionally, of those who supported a 20 percent requirement, 87 percent agreed with the statement that, “utilities should be fined if they do not meet the renewable energy standard (60 percent strongly agreed with this statement). **See results of the poll attached.** “As Governor Strickland has mentioned time and time again, Ohio is uniquely positioned to be a national leader in the production job-intensive clean energy technologies and diversify with clean energy so the question is, will we pass up the opportunity to do so, or, will make the same commitment that already half of the states in U.S. have to start now,” concluded Bowser. Environment Ohio is urging the senate to instruct the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio to enforce the renewable energy requirement from the time it is enacted through 2025 and to take whatever enforcement steps are necessary to ensure that the requirement is met. ***************************** Erin Bowser
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Ohio-renewable-memo.doc