Lawsuit: Ohio Wind Setbacks Were Adopted in Violation of State Constitution

The eleventh-hour add-on to a 2014 state budget bill didn’t allow stakeholders to respond to proposal, a complaint says.

A lawsuit filed this week over Ohio’s wind turbine setbacks centers on whether landowners, developers and others had a chance to be heard before the stricter terms were adopted as part of an eleventh-hour budget bill amendment in 2014.

The Mid-Atlantic Renewable Energy Coalition and four Paulding County property owners claim the General Assembly violated a rule in Ohio’s Constitution that limits bills to a single subject.

Voters to Decide if Worthington Should Adopt an Energy-Aggregation Plan

Worthington wants to shrink its residents’ electric bills — and its carbon footprint — and city officials say Issue 39 can make that happen.

If voters approve the issue on Nov. 6, the city would have permission to go directly to energy suppliers to secure a bulk price that, when divided among residents and small businesses, could lead to cheaper electric bills.

The city says the agreement also would allow it to increase its reliance on renewable energy.

100% Renewable Energy: Cleveland Sets a Big Goal as It Sheds Its Fossil Fuel Past

Cleveland joins more than 80 U.S. cities that have committed to get all their electricity from renewable sources. But in Ohio, that might be easier said than done.

Cleveland's climate action plan includes improving energy efficiency in buildings to help lower electricity demand as it shifts to 100 percent renewable power. 

Cleveland, Ohio, which has worked for years to reinvent itself as it sheds its industrial past, has become the latest major city to announce plans to shift to 100 percent renewable energy sources for electricity.

Ohio Lawmakers Fine-Tune Renewable Energy Mandates

Ohio utilities would still have to find more of their power from renewable sources like solar and wind but not as much as required by current law under a bill that could soon see a Senate vote.

A revised version of House Bill 114 rolled out last week would get rid of the House-passed concept of replacing the mandates with voluntary goals carrying no penalties for failure.

The bill also seeks to resolve a four-year feud over the siting of wind farms.

Ohio Wind-Farm Rules Eased in Proposed State Senate Bill, But Mandates Reduced

There soon may be more wind farms in Ohio.

The Ohio Senate's GOP leadership is making an effort to encourage wind-farm development in the state by eliminating restrictive rules that previous GOP leadership slipped into a budget bill four years ago.

The 2014 changes lengthened the distance a wind turbine can be to an adjoining property line  to 1,125 feet -- rather than to the nearest home on adjacent property -- and ended any further wind project applications in the state.

The Senate is proposing to relax those restrictions. Yet at the same time it is making changes to other state energy laws including those requiring electric companies to sell more energy generated by wind, solar and hydro projects and to develop programs that help customers use less electricity.

Lawmaker: Current Wind Farm Regulations ‘Stifle’ Investment in Ohio

Setbacks have been an issue of contention with proposed Champaign County wind farm.

A Northeast Ohio Republican is pushing for a return to shorter setbacks for wind farms in Ohio, arguing the rules created in 2014 have strangled investment in the industry.

The issue of how far turbines should be built from nearby businesses and residential properties has long been a contentious issue in Champaign County, where developers have sought to build a wind farm in two phases.

War Over Ohio Clean Energy Standards Heats Up — Again

The Ohio General Assembly is tussling yet again over the Buckeye State's clean energy standards.

Industrial groups, fossil fuel interests and conservative groups are leading a push for the Legislature to relax Ohio's renewable and energy efficiency standards. They maintain the current requirements are costly, market-distorting mandates. But renewable companies, environmentalists and a collection of big-name corporations — including Whirlpool Corp. and Dow Chemical Co. — are defending the standards as cost-cutting, pollution-slashing, job-creating incentives.

Ohio Energy Bill Passes House, But Fight Expected In Senate

The Ohio House of Representatives has passed legislation 65-30 that would make Ohio’s renewable energy standards optional, promoting business growth in the state, said Rep. Louis W. Blessing III, R-Colerain. 

House Bill 114, sponsored by Blessing, who represents Greater Harrison, reflects some recommendations made by the Energy Mandates Study Committee in 2015. The bill calls for reforming Ohio’s law on renewable energy to remove mandates, and making them optional. 

Clean energy advocates, including Ohio Citizens Action, however, argue the study committee’s report is flawed because it relies on improper and outdated assumptions about costs and fails to fully evaluate the benefits of the standards. 

3 Republican Governors Embrace Clean Energy’s Economic Promise

Last month, the U.S. inaugurated a new president who has vowed to abandon the landmark Paris climate agreement and roll back bedrock American environmental protections.

But turn to the states and you’ll find a different story, even in the red states that elected President Trump. In fact, Republican governors in the Midwest are prioritizing economic growth and job creation by accelerating investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy. In the few weeks after the election, leaders in Illinois, Ohio, and Michigan have adopted new policies that help tackle climate change and grow the clean energy economy.

Wind Farms Stall, Solar Grows as Energy Debate Continues in Ohio

Alternative energy advocates cheered a recent decision by Ohio Gov. John Kasich to veto a recent bill that would have weakened the state’s clean energy standards, arguing the move will lead to more investment and jobs in the industry statewide.

But opponents, including residents engaged in a long legal battle over a proposed Champaign County wind farm, said they have seen laws repeatedly shift on the issue and hope to continue the fight.

The debate centers on Ohio House Bill 554, which lawmakers passed late last year and would have made state alternative energy requirements optional for the next two years. But Kasich vetoed it, meaning the state’s older energy standards will now snap back into place.

Ohio Governor Vetoes Bill to Extend Freeze on Renewable Energy

Ohio Governor John Kasich rejected a bill to extend a freeze on a law that requires utilities in the state to buy more electricity from renewable sources including wind and solar power.

The bill would have extended for two years a delay on the state’s requirement that utilities get 12.5 percent of their power from renewables by 2027, slowing development of the clean energy 

technologies and threatening investment and jobs, Kasich said Tuesday in a statement. House bill 554 would also have made the goal voluntary.

Ohio Gov. Kasich Admits Renewables Are the Future, So Why Did He Freeze Ohio’s Clean Energy Mandate?

At a town hall event in New Hampshire, presidential candidate John Kasich paid lip service to growing a clean energy economy, despite having hindered the growth of Ohio’s wind, solar and other renewable energy industries.

It’s no surprise he’s talking about the importance of clean energy on the campaign trail—thousands of voters in Iowa and New Hampshire have committed to voting on clean energy and a growing number of Ohioans are doing the same. It’s time for Gov. Kasich to start leading by example and support clean energy at home, not just touting empty rhetoric on the campaign trail.

Ohio's Electricity Providers Seeking State 'Bailout'

Debate Comes Against Backdrop of Frozen Energy Standards in Ohio

The three largest electricity providers in Ohio — FirstEnergy (the Northeast Ohio-based company we'll focus on here), AEP, and Duke — are hoping the state will approve individual plans to keep their older power plants operating. The proposals — "bailouts," essentially, as critics put it — would lock in fixed-rate contracts for customers, regardless of fluctuating market price.

Ohio House Passes Legislation -- Wind Energy Industry Protests Bird-Kill Fine

Ohio’s fledgling wind energy industry is balking at a largely ignored provision of a massive environmental bill overwhelmingly approved in the House this week, arguing it is designed to throw one more wrench into its turbines.

The language would allow the state Department of Natural Resources to impose additional fees on wind farms based on the killing and injury, or “take,” of wild animals, a broad restriction the wind industry maintains would not be imposed on its competitors.

Wind Power Backers, Opponents Gear Up for Long Fight Over Ohio Energy Laws

$55M Champaign County wind project may be in jeopardy, but some neighbors want it to stop.

Everpower Renewables has spent as much as $10 million in Ohio to get a trio of wind projects ready for construction, including in Champaign County, but two recently signed laws are making the firm reconsider if their investment is still worth the effort.

Wind energy advocates said the laws put the future of wind energy in Ohio in jeopardy, potentially stalling or killing as many as 10 shovel-ready projects that could mean $2.5 billion in investment in the state, along with as much as $20 million in combined tax payments to local governments and lease payments to property owners.

Schiavoni Speaks Out About Alternative Energy Bill in Ohio

A bill signed by Governor John Kasich Friday delays phasing in the state’s renewable energy and efficiency targets and repeals advanced energy mandates.

The law puts a two-year hold on renewable targets with a compromise Kasich backed avoiding a full repeal being pushed through the state senate.

Ohio State Laws Clash with Federal Energy Guidelines

Ohio is ranked fifth in the nation in energy consumption, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Proposed EPA guidelines could pose a unique problem for Ohio, as a federal plan to cut carbon pollution from power plants arrives at the same time as a state law to freeze emissions standards.

Last week, the EPA announced its proposed Clean Power Plan that aims to, by 2030, cut carbon emissions from power plants nationwide by 30 percent below 2005 levels.

One Paragraph in One Bill Could Shut Down Alternative Energy in Ohio

Critics say the energy standards freeze includes a 'nuclear bomb' for investors.

Advocates for alternative energy are voicing their opinion on a provision that was slipped into the most recent version of the energy standards freeze bill. As Statehouse correspondent Andy Chow reports, they fear it could dramatically change the energy landscape in Ohio.

Experts say a clause in the energy bill would deliver a major blow to alternative energy investment in Ohio.

Bill to Freeze Ohio's Renewable Energy Standards: How They Voted

A few lawmakers crossed party lines when the Ohio Senate voted Thursday to advance a freeze on Ohio's renewable energy laws.

Senate Bill 310 freezes for two years a 2008 state law requiring utility companies to sell more electricity from renewable sources of energy and requires a committee to study the effects of the renewable energy standards.

The bill also allows companies to look outside of Ohio for more than 50 percent of the energy needed to meet those requirements and makes it easier for companies to opt out of energy efficiency programs.

New Energy Bill Delays Ohio Green Targets 2 Years

A proposal headed to the Ohio House freezes state-set targets for the amount of energy that utilities must produce from renewable sources such as solar and wind, but stops short of repealing the targets permanently.

The closely watched bill cleared the Ohio Senate just after 1 a.m. Thursday, about 15 hours after a compromise was struck. Lawmakers who initially sought to permanently freeze phasing in the 7-year-old standards backed off Wednesday.

The Republican-led Senate worked with Gov. John Kasich on an alternative that pauses progress on the targets for two years as a legislative committee looks at the issue.