The number of wind farms in Ohio, stagnant since lawmakers increased property setback requirements in 2014, could be further stymied by the passage Thursday of another bill in the Ohio House aimed at making the state’s green energy mandates voluntary goals. The bill now goes to the Senate, where there is no companion legislation. Between 2008 and 2014, power companies in Ohio had to provide an increasing percentage of green energy in the power they sold. Lawmakers froze that percentage in 2014 for two years in 2014. In December 2016, the Republican-dominated House and Senate voted to make the standards voluntary for another two years — only to see Gov. John Kasich veto the legislation. (Plain Dealer file)
COLUMBUS — “Declaring that wind and solar power no longer need the assistance of a state law forcing power companies to support and sell green energy, the Ohio House of Representatives today voted to end the state’s green mandates created nine years ago.
The vote was 65 to 29, with three Republicans joining Democrats to oppose the legislation.
House Bill 114 makes the renewable energy mandates voluntary goals and completely erases them from law in 2026.
It also dilutes the requirement that traditional electric utilities reduce peak demand by developing energy efficiency programs for their customers.
…More draconian than legislation (H.B. 554) approved in December — and vetoed by Gov. John Kasich — the bill now goes to the Ohio Senate, where there is no companion bill.”
— John Funk, Cleveland Plain Dealer
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