A new research report
by Environment Ohio, a nonprofit environmental advocacy group in Columbus, says
Ohio’s renewable energy laws have tuned up the state’s energy consumption and savings
for consumers.
Between January 2009
when the state’s renewable energy law kicked in and December 2012, the state
has cut five million megawatt-hours of cumulative energy consumption - more
than enough electricity to power Cincinnati, Cleveland and Dayton for a year,
the report said.
It has reduced peak
electricity demand by 1,583 megawatts – the equivalent capacity of Ohio’s
sixth-largest power plant. Also, 313 megawatts of wind power and 25 megawatts
of solar energy were added statewide in 2012, which could produce more power
than Dayton households use in a year.
“The clean energy law
is getting results for the Buckeye State,” Christian Adams, Environment Ohio
State Associate, said. “Four years in, Ohio’s clean energy law is reducing
pollution, cutting our dependence on coal and gas, creating jobs, and saving
Ohioans money.”
Environment Ohio said
the law has attracted business to the state like Iberdrola Renewables, a
developer of the Blue Creek Wind Farm – a 304 MW project that came online in
June 2012. It said that in 2012, for the first time since the law came into
effect, FirstEnergy, Duke Energy, Dayton Power & Light and American
Electric Power met the law’s energy efficiency, peak demand reduction and
renewable energy requirements.
The
report said that specific programs fostered by the law include DP&L’s
Lighting Program that distributed more than 1.7 million high-efficiency
lighting fixtures to customers and saved enough energy to power more than 6,759
Ohio homes for a year at a cost of 3.8 cents per kilowatt-hour – one third the
retail cost of electricity in Ohio.
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