Ohio Sen. Bill Seitz, seen in this 2011 file photo, has tried for several years to weaken the state’s renewable energy laws. (Associated Press)
COLUMBUS — “Ohio’s goals for clean energy could be cut in half in a bill Ohio legislators are considering in response to the freeze on such standards set to expire at the end of the year.
The work comes after Gov. John Kasich again signaled resistance to any bill that would kill the standards. Kasich in 2014 signed the bill that froze the state’s escalating standards for electric utilities to produce power using renewable energy sources, but said he’d veto anything that continued the freeze beyond this year.
Utilities and some business groups have said the renewable requirements are too expensive. Environmental groups counter that generation sources like wind and solar are becoming increasingly affordable and desired by some companies.
Ohio Sen. Bill Seitz last week began circulating a version of a bill that would make the standards goals, not mandates, for utilities until 2020. He said in an interview Tuesday that an extended time frame would allow breathing room until the fate of the federal Clean Power Plan is known. The carbon-reduction rule is being fought over in federal appeals court.’
— Tom Knox, Columbus Business First
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