Gov. says energy proposal would help Valley

The governor says the Valley can play an important role in his energy policy.

By DAVID SKOLNICK

VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER

BOARDMAN — Gov. Ted Strickland urged Mahoning Valley business and political leaders to embrace his energy policy, saying it could greatly benefit the area.

Strickland acknowledged Thursday, the day after he released details of his proposed energy policy, that the plan is “controversial” and “will result in heated debate” throughout the state.

The governor, a Democrat formerly of Lisbon, touted the plan Thursday to about 700 people at the Regional Chamber’s Salute to Business Early Bird Breakfast at Mr. Anthony’s Banquet Center before cutting the ribbon to open the Canfield Fair.

Strickland wants a return to Ohio’s regulating electricity rates and a long-range goal of having at least 25 percent of the state’s electricity by the year 2025 generated from advanced energy technology. That technology includes clean coal, solar, wind and water power.

Job creation

About 20,000 new manufacturing jobs could be created to build the products necessary to harvest the energy of renewable sources, Strickland said citing an economic analysis report.

That’s only a fraction of the potential jobs to be gained in the research and operation of those renewable options, he said.

Plenty of those jobs could be located in the Valley, he said.

“This region has suffered disproportionately because of the changes in our economy,” Strickland said.

Strickland said his administration has “not forgotten the Mahoning Valley” and will do whatever he can to see it thrive.

“There are opportunities for us; there are better days ahead for Ohio,” he said. “But we can only do it in a concerted effort to get the job done.”

Without the implementation of his plan, Strickland said the state runs the real risk of losing jobs and a continued increase in electricity costs.

“We can’t simply do what we’ve always done and maintain the status quo,” he said. “We can’t let these opportunities pass us by.”

Republican legislative leaders say they are evaluating Strickland’s proposal. The governor wants his plan approved by the end of the year.

The state enacted legislation in 1999 to deregulate the electricity market with the thought that it would increase competition and lower prices.

But competition never developed, Strickland said.

Rate stabilization, part of the 1999 law, is to end for FirstEnergy Corp. by the end of next year.

When asked after the breakfast about the General Motors complex in Lordstown, Strickland said he and Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher will meet with company officials in Detroit in the next few weeks.

They will specifically talk about the facility and what the state can offer the company to stay in Lordstown after the Cobalt production ends in 2009.

skolnick@vindy.com