Fact: Clean Energy is Working in Ohio

windpowerohioChris Prandoni certainly is welcome to his own opinions, but not his own facts. As the Director of Energy and Environmental Policy at Americans for Tax Reform, Prandoni may favor coal-fired power plants and dislike energy efficiency and renewables, but there’s no doubt Ohio’s clean energy standards are saving consumers money and bringing huge investments into the state.

Prandoni supports S.B. 310, which has already passed the Ohio Senate and is expected to enter the House within the next week, and promises to kill the state’s renewable portfolio standards (RPS) and energy efficiency directives. If Prandoni has his way, and as he points out in his misinformed Forbes op-ed, Ohio would be the first state in the nation to “pare back” its clean energy mandates, but this is not something Ohioans should be proud of.

Despite Prandoni’s claim, the fact is Ohio utilities admit the clean energy standards are saving money. In filings to the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO), the power companies admit energy efficiency programs alone have netted Ohio consumers more than $1 billion in savings to date, and will result in more than $4.1 billion in savings over the program’s life.

Ohio utility American Energy Power (AEP) argued energy efficiency “is an important resource for the state of Ohio, AEP Ohio, and its customers, continuing to be important as future fuel and commodity prices remain volatile and environmental regulations become more stringent.”  Even FirstEnergy, the leading proponent of S.B. 310, admitted that for every $1 spent on energy efficiency programs, its customers save over $2.

Even the Ohio Manufacturers Association supports the clean energy standards, arguing that the falling prices of wind energy and solar collectors, along with energy efficiency, make clean power the most cost-effective way to meet the state’s energy needs.

The religious and evangelical communities also have been supportive. A recent letter from all Ohio Bishops, stated, “We ask you to prayerfully consider if it would be more prudent for the sake of environmental stewardship to maintain our current policies and not freeze these standards.”

This broad coalition knows the facts – Ohio’s clean energy standards are working and S.B. 310 would hurt the state’s businesses, workers, and consumers.

This commentary originally appeared on Forbes.

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One Comment

  1. Posted May 19, 2014 at 11:16 am | Permalink

    Ohioans should let their voices be heard. Visit http://action.ohioadvancedenergy.org to send Ohio’s leadership a letter asking them to oppose SB310.