The proposed legislation to overhaul Ohio's energy efficiency and renewable
energy mandates appears to be dead in committee.
Sen. William Seitz, chairman of the Senate Public Utilities
Committee, cancelled this morning's committee meeting, without explanation. The
committee was scheduled to vote on the bill and pass it on to the full Senate.
Seitz has not responded to a request for an interview to
explain his thinking.
Gongwer Ohio, a statehouse news service available only by
subscription, reported late this morning that the Cincinnati Republican and
sponsor of the legislation, is considering reviving hearings on an earlier bill
that would completely eliminate any efficiency mandates or requirements that
Ohio utilities sell electricity generated by wind, solar and other renewable
technologies.
That bill, offered by Sen. Kris Jordan, a Central Ohio
Republican appeared in the Ohio Senate last year and again this year but
stalled in committee for lack of support.
The Senate Republican Caucus met for more than four hours
Tuesday night debating whether to go forward on several bills, including
Seitz's legislation, which alone took up more than 90 minutes.
The sense of the caucus, said sources not authorized to
speak about the discussions, was that given the uncertainty of the impact the
legislation would have on consumer electric bills the best course was to wait
until January.
Ohio Consumers' Counsel Bruce Weston sent a letter to every
member of the Senate yesterday warning that if the bill were passed as
currently written, every Ohio household would pay as much as $528 extra over
the next three years and businesses an average of $3,231 additional.
The Ohio Manufacturers' Association has led a coalition of
environmental and consumer groups opposed to changing the five-year-old state
law requiring electric utilities to help customers use less electricity and
mandating that the power companies sell an increasing amount of power generated
by wind, solar and other renewable technologies.
FirstEnergy Corp. has been lobbying to change the mandates,
arguing that the efficiency standards have interfered with normal market
growth. Some of the state's largest industries have lobbied for a
loophole that would allow them to opt out of the efficiency programs.
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