"Our caucus has worked tirelessly over the last several years to reduce government mandates so we can maintain an environment that promotes job growth and preserves existing jobs in Ohio. While well-intentioned, Senate Bill 221 (approved in 2008) created many mandates that will leave consumers paying these increasing costs unless properly reviewed and updated."

Energy Policy Ohio

The measure calls for a two-year freeze in standards for renewable energy and energy efficiency while a legislative panel studies issues related to the standards. If the legislature takes no action in response to the study, the standards would automatically resume in 2017.

Energy Policy Ohio

During the two-year freeze, a special committee would study whether to make other changes to the energy rules and make recommendations to the legislature. If lawmakers do not set a new course in that time, then annual increases would re-start in 2017 and continue until 2027, Faber said.

Energy Policy Ohio

A compromise emerged Monday in the standoff between Gov. John Kasich and Ohio Senate Republicans over energy efficiency and renewable energy rules. Led by Sen. Frank LaRose of Copley Township, a moderate Republican, and with the support of at least three other Republican senators, the proposal would soften the impact on monthly bills for energy efficiency and renewable power.

Energy Policy Ohio

Faber said the bill already had been destined to undergo changes before it is passed out of committee and the Senate. “We need to understand how (Kasich’s) changes would work,” Faber said. He said Kasich’s concerns are rooted “more in the application of the freeze than anything,” but he noted that he had not reviewed Kasich’s specific policy suggestions.

Energy Policy Ohio

“Because of this uncertainty and the changing economic and energy landscapes since the enactment of [the 2008 energy law], it is essential that we act to protect all Ohioans’ electricity bills from continuing to rise, and therefore, maintain the status quo while we carefully review the best way to move forward,” Mr. Balderson said.

Energy Policy Ohio

Ohio Sen. Bill Seitz, a Cincinnati Republican, has long tried to cut the in-state requirement. Ohio Sen. Kris Jordan, a Delaware County Republican, wants to repeal the renewables mandate altogether. ...Seitz said the country’s recession reduced the need for additional energy production and Ohio’s natural-gas boom has weakened the need for wind power. “We should be able to buy power from wherever it is cheapest,” he said. “There shouldn’t be a protected bucket for Ohio wind developers.”

Impact on People Energy Policy Ohio

Get ready to hear a lot about hitting the “pause button” on the state’s benchmarks for renewable energy and energy efficiency. Ohio Senate Republicans are putting together a plan that would freeze the annual targets at current levels while a special panel studies the issue.

Energy Policy Ohio

In an interview with Media Trackers, Sen. Jordan expressed his belief that SB 34 was gaining traction in the legislature. “My bill is much more simple, and it just lets customers pick the winners and losers in our economy, as opposed to a bunch of know-it-all politicians,” he said, adding, “You rip the Band-Aid off, you stop the problem, which is that these renewables necessarily drive the cost up for all consumers.”

Energy Policy Ohio

At least three sets of major amendments were submitted late Friday to the Public Utilities Committee of the Ohio Senate, where Chairman William Seitz, a Cincinnati Republican, has been holding hearings on his bill, a proposal that opponents say would effectively abolish the five-year-old regulations.

Energy Policy Ohio

The measure would create a series of exceptions to the state’s energy-efficiency standards and remove a requirement that utilities purchase half of their renewable energy from in-state sources. It would do so by changing provisions of a 2008 law that says electric utilities have to meet an escalating series of benchmarks for energy efficiency and renewable energy.

Energy Policy Ohio

[Senator] Seitz believes the economics that convinced lawmakers to approve the legislation five years ago have proved incorrect. Seitz argued that shale gas has not only lowered the cost of electricity but also has persuaded utilities not to build any more coal-fired power plants, which would require costly emission controls. He also noted that demand has not increased as most predicted. "In short the assumptions upon which Senate Bill 221 (the 2008 law) were based have all turned out to be false," he wrote, "and it would be the height of foolishness to fail to account for these changed circumstances."

Energy Policy Ohio

Much of the opposition to the legislation is from developers who are essentially receiving a subsidy because of the requirement to produce much of that energy in Ohio, Seitz said. He argued his proposal would help the environment but create more competition to produce that energy. “Cry me a river,” Seitz said of critics. “Is it about being green or making people money?”

Impact on Economy Energy Policy Ohio

Mr. Seitz noted that the U.S. Supreme Court struck down, as a violation of the Constitution’s interstate commerce clause, a provision in Oklahoma that had a buy-Oklahoma provision for coal. A federal appeals-court ruling also has shed doubt on an in-state mandate included in Michigan’s renewable-energy standards. So far, Ohio’s standard has not been legally challenged. Ohio Environmental Council spokesman Jack Shaner said the proposed changes would send the wrong message to wind turbine and solar panel manufacturers that their market here is not as assured.

Energy Policy Ohio

Ohio Sen. Bill Seitz, R-Cincinnati, is about to release a wide-ranging energy proposal altering renewable-energy requirements. He hopes the General Assembly will pass the bill this year. ...If there is no requirement that utilities buy from within the state, then developers might pull back on projects that are in the planning stages, said a lobbyist for the group.

Energy Policy Ohio

A long-simmering proposal to overhaul Ohio's energy policy is to be released this week. It would throw out the requirement that utilities buy half of their renewable energy from in-state sources, and it would change the way the state encourages energy efficiency.

Energy Policy Ohio

Sen. Bill Seitz, R-Cincinnati, said he hopes to introduce a bill overhauling the 2008 law as soon as the end of the month. "It behooves any wise person to check in. No one I know of stays with an 18-year plan and doesn't make suitable changes to the plan when market conditions change."

Energy Policy Ohio

When the state's renewable energy mandate was enacted five years ago, both demand and prices for electricity were expected to rise, said Ohio Sen. Bill Seitz, chairman of the Ohio Senate Public Utilities Committee that is holding hearings this month on the state's renewable energy requirement. But since then, large deposits of natural gas in shale have kept energy prices down, Seitz said, and the additional demand hasn't materialized.

Energy Policy Ohio

Ohio's benchmarks for renewable energy and energy efficiency are getting a five-year checkup that some defenders fear will turn into an amputation. An Ohio Senate panel began hearings last week to examine the rules and figure out whether there is a way to address some businesses' concerns that the mandates are too costly.

Energy Policy Ohio

FirstEnergy, the publicly traded utility based in Akron, pushed lawmakers at the end of 2012 to freeze energy efficiency standards, according to The Columbus Dispatch. The company previously has argued that mandates on utilities increase costs for consumers. Environmental groups and green-energy proponents don't like talk of tinkering with the standards.

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