Ohio House committee gives nod to 2-year freeze of renewables goal

May 28, 2014 - Ohio’s House Public Utilities Committee has approved on Tuesday a bill that would pause the state’s renewable energy and efficiency standards for two years, thus sending the proposal for a full house vote later this week.

The Senate passed the bill earlier this month.

Under a law from 2008, 12.5% of the energy produced by state utilities was required to come from renewables and just as much had to be generated from advanced sources by 2025. The annual targets up to then are growing every year. For 2014, the renewables goal was set at 2.5% and it was supposed to increase to 3.5% and 4.5% in 2015 and 2016, respectively.

The newly-proposed bill, however, calls for the elimination of the targets for advanced energy and the freezing of the renewable energy standards in 2015 and 2016. The rule that at least 50% of the renewable energy must come from Ohio has also been removed. The benchmarks will be re-launched in 2017 for another ten years, unless lawmakers accept different recommendations by a newly formed study commission.

The bill was passed by the Committee with a 13-9 vote, with two Republicans suggesting that the freeze should last just a year.

Some energy firms, faith and civil-rights leaders as well as environmentalists are opposing the legislation. At the same time, supporters say that the specific targets boost prices for the average power consumer.

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