The Ohio Environmental Council’s Action Fund took aim this week at State Rep. Kristina Roegner, a Republican from Hudson, and vice-chair of the House Public Utilities Committee, for her position on pending legislation that would resurrect state rules requiring power companies to provide an increasing percentages of renewable power through 2027 but make compliance for the next three years voluntary. The Action Fund projected this digital billboard on a bank building located on Capitol Square. (Brian Kaiser)
COLUMBUS — “Ohio Republican lawmakers inched closer to a standoff with Gov. John Kasich Wednesday when the House Public Utilities Committee approved a bill that would, in effect, continue the two-year freeze on rules requiring power companies to provide green energy and energy efficiency programs.
The committee, chaired by Rep. Mike Dovilla, a Berea Republican, approved and sent a bill to the full House that would ‘unfreeze’ the mandates requiring power companies to provide an annually increasing percentage of renewable energy through 2027.
But the legislation, and a companion bill in the Senate that attracted testimony about 60 opponents Tuesday night, would also make compliance with the standards voluntary from 2017 through 2019.
In other words, it would leave it up power companies to decide when they want to start to comply — which would pull the rug out from under wind and solar companies that argued they need mandates initially to create a market for their technologies.
About the same time the House committee ended Wednesday’s day-long hearing that drew more than 40 witnesses asking to testify and another dozen or so onlookers, Kasich spoke to reporters following a suburban Columbus event.
He told them that the mandates are important to attracting new business to the state.
‘I think we should embrace these renewables,’ he said. ‘We think these goals that were established for renewables, both solar and wind, can be met.'”
— John Funk, Cleveland Plain Dealer
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