Wind turbines generate electricity on a farm straddling Paulding and Van Wert counties in northwest Ohio.
COLUMBUS — “Kasich had repeatedly pledged during his presidential bid that Ohio would support wind and solar, that he would not allow more conservative lawmakers to extend the two-year freeze, and that making the standards voluntary was unacceptable.
In his message to lawmakers accompanying the veto, Kasich wrote that HB 554, as it was passed, ran the risk of eliminating the ‘energy generation options . . . most prized by the companies poised to create many jobs in Ohio in the coming years, such as high technology firms.’ He was referring to companies such as Amazon and Google.
Kasich was also critical of the impact the legislation would have had on businesses that work in the broad energy efficiency markets, whose technologies, he said, have helped Ohio businesses and consumers save more than $1 billion.
The veto also means FirstEnergy, American Electric Power and the other traditional utilities must offer customers energy-efficiency programs in order to meet increasingly stringent standards to help them reduce power consumption by using new technologies. AEP never shut down its programs; FirstEnergy did. The Akron-based company is still negotiating with regulators about a new efficiency program but expects approval next month.”
— John Funk, Cleveland Plain Dealer
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