Plan delays Ohio renewable energy targets another 3 years
COLUMBUS (AP) — An as-yet-to-be-introduced bill that would extend a freeze on Ohio’s renewable-energy requirements for an additional three years is already drawing opposition.
State Sen. Bill Seitz, a Cincinnati Republican, said the draft legislation circulated last week tacks another three years onto a current two-year delay in phasing in state targets for use of solar, wind and other forms of renewable energy by Ohio power companies.
Seitz tells The Associated Press he sent the bill to interested parties on different sides of the debate and “I’m giving all the Hatfields and all the McCoys the opportunity to comment” before introducing the final bill.
The law that’s on hold requires utilities to generate 25 percent of electricity from alternative and advanced sources by 2025 and to meet certain energy-efficiency targets.
A compromise struck at the urging of Republican Gov. John Kasich prevented a permanent freeze of the law, as some lawmakers wanted. Instead, phase-in was delayed for two years to give lawmakers time to study the issue. If legislators fail to act by 2017, the deal calls for the law to resume as planned.