PUCO head supports alternative energies

He says renewable power could work if big-producer costs stay high.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- As energy prices hover at record levels, Ohio should consider adopting an experimental program to use wind, the sun and other renewable resources for 4 percent of its overall power use, the state's top regulator said Thursday.
Ohio, like the rest of the country, is too dependent on foreign sources of energy and must look into wind power, solar power and clean-coal plants, Alan Schriber, chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, told a Senate subcommittee on energy.
Schriber said a five-year pilot program could work if big energy producers don't reduce the cost of power to drive the alternatives away. Renewable energy sources currently provide less than 1 percent of Ohio's power, most of that from hydroelectric plants along the Ohio River.
"Let's see how it works. Let's see how we use it. Let's see if it's cost-effective after five years," Schriber said after the hearing.
Under such a program, the state would be encouraged to provide startup money or tax breaks for wind farms, solar-panel fields or hydroelectric plants, which harness water power, Schriber and subcommittee Chairman Sen. Robert Schuler said. The cost would be determined later, Schuler said.
Schuler, a Cincinnati Republican, said he wants to complete work on his bill that would set a state energy policy in September, if lawmakers meet then, or after the November election.