Dive Brief:
- Two bills in the Ohio legislature would make energy efficiency and renewables targets voluntary until 2020, hardly the undoing of the state's "freeze" that customer advocates have pressed for.
- Midwest Energy News reports that a Senate committee held a hearing yesterday, and the House Public Utilities Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing this morning, possibly leading to a vote.
- Renewable and efficiency standards were temporarily frozen in 2014 and are slated to go back into effect next year unless an extension or voluntary metrics are passed.
Dive Insight:
Votes on clean energy standards in Ohio could come as soon as this week, reports Midwest Energy News, as the state is mired in debates over the future of its electric utilities and how they procure generation.
Sen. Bill Seitz (R) has proposed Senate Bill 320, which would require utilities to meet clean energy requirements every three years, but leaves the current standards in place — so utilities would need to reach 6.5% renewable power un 2020, and 9.5% in 2023. There would be no enforcement, however, for the first three years. House Rep. Ron Amstutz (R) introduced H.B. 554 as a companion bill to Seitz's measure.
Ohio businesses, however, appear to be lining up on the side of clean energy advocates. Last month, several Ohio businesses that collectively employ more than 25,000 workers urged lawmakers to reinstate the standards. Those companies included Campbell Soup, Clif Bar, Gap, Nestle, Whirlpool and others.
The debate comes as American Electric Power and FirstEnergy are pressing the lawmakers to re-regulate energy markets to support struggling power plants. But customer advocates say deregulation of Ohio's markets has been a boon to customers, saving them $15 billion from 2011 to 2015.
