Ohio’s Disgraceful Energy Policy Continues
Existing anti-competitive practices, over-regulation, and lobbyist-bureaucrats are not done stifling Ohio’s renewables
There is a new development in the Ohio statehouse’s continuing efforts to suppress renewables — House Bill 786 . The text of the entire bill is short and clear enough replicate here:
Notwithstanding any other provision of the Revised Code, the Power Siting Board shall not issue a certification for any major utility facility to be powered by solar or wind or for any economically significant wind farm in accordance with Chapter 4906. of the Revised Code until one of the following events, whichever occurs first:
(A) Three years have elapsed from the effective date of this section;
(B) The General Assembly enacts law that provides additional directives and guidance to the Board regarding the certification of major utility facilities that are powered by solar or wind and economically significant wind farms.
To be more specific, this bill would “prevent regulators from certifying any new solar or wind facility greater than 50 MW in capacity, as well as smaller ‘economically significant’ wind farms with a capacity of 5 MW or more” [1].
What motivates a bill like this? The sponsor of this bill is Todd Smith, representing Ohio House District 43.
Why would Representative Smith sponsor this bill? As reported by Energy News Networks “In a memo seeking co-sponsors for the bill, primary sponsor Rep. Todd Smith, R-Farmersville, referred to complaints about ‘unregulated solar and wind farms’ and claimed the bill’s goal was ‘merely to press the pause button’ ” [2]. I found this explanation perplexing. Does Ohio have a problem with unregulated solar and wind farms? I researched the topic, and I could not find anything. In fact, most recommended searches just came back to this bill. Furthermore, as someone who has investigated residential solar for my own home, I find it hard to believe that there is a lack of regulation. The regulatory hurdles dominate the difficulty of installing residential solar.
Perhaps the regulations are lax for utility-scale renewables? Not from what I can tell. New renewable energy producers must be certified by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) and they have a lot of rules. In 2014, a last-minute amendment “added in a budget bill process — with no public testimony or justification — increased the minimum distances that wind turbines had to be constructed from a neighbor’s property line” [6]. This amendment made for one of the most restrictive setback laws in the United States and was effectively a moratorium on Wind Power in Ohio as evidenced by the fact that since 2014 “not a single new land-based wind farm has been approved”. Let’s look at an example of the regulatory hurdles facing wind energy in Ohio through the only approved wind farm since 2014.
LEEDCo has been working towards developing wind energy on Lake Erie since 2009. Their Icebreaker pilot project would be the first freshwater wind farm in the United States. Consisting of a mere 6 turbines, the project has faced enormous regulatory hurdles. In 2018, the Department of Energy (DoE) ruled, after a two-year review, that “the proposed project will not significantly adversely affect any endangered or threatened species or any critical habitat” [4]. An unsurprising outcome for a project consisting of 6 turbines, and yet, in May 2020, the Ohio Power Sitting Board (OPSB) only granted “approval” for the project with a “poison pill” stipulating that LEEDCo must conduct radar studies and provide a bird and bat mitigation and collision monitoring plan. Until this plan is submitted and approved, the turbines cannot be used at night between March 1 and November 1.
This was based on an investigation and testimony from bird conservation activists. The OPSB sided with these activists despite the project already passing a two-year long review with the DoE. These restrictions made the project unviable and nearly killed it. As an aside, do bats even fly 8 miles out over the lake? I don’t think so, but I couldn’t find anything definitive on the topic. Fortunately, PUCO voted down the stipulations in September, but it’s not over. In October, Judge Timothy Kelly ruled against the Department of Energy, preventing it from providing $40 million of funding to the project. The plaintiffs were the Black Swamp Bird Observatory and the American Bird Conservancy. I find it odd that the Black Swamp Bird Observatory is involved since it is located near Toledo — 80 miles from the proposed site.
This seems a bit overbearing for a project consisting of 6 turbines. Contrast this with Ontario. I can personally attest from driving from Windsor to Hamilton Ontario that our Canadian neighbors to the North have installed a lot of wind power on the North side of Lake Erie.
The Greenwich Windpark was one of the last land-based wind farms to be approved in 2014. It faced 53 conditions for construction. Since then, it has had to send a request all the way to the Ohio Supreme Court just to upgrade a few existing turbines. It hardly seems that regulation for renewables is lacking in Ohio. Meanwhile Ohio has 20 Coal Ash ponds many of which are unlined. Ohio also passed what Vox called “the worst energy bill of the 21st century” in the now infamous House Bill 6 which:
- Gives $150 Million dollars to bail out two nuclear power plants
- Bails out two of the oldest and dirtiest coal power plants serving Ohio (one of which is in Indiana). Why are we using Ohio’s public tax dollars to bail out a coal power plant in Indiana?
- Eliminate Ohio’s renewable energy standards which had already been frozen and under attack for more than a decade through numerous other bills.
- Cap off Ohio’s energy efficiency standards
Ohio House Bill 6 was passed thanks to a $60 million bribery scheme to the benefit of FirstEnergy which led to the arrest of representative Larry Householder and four others. As of today, the Ohio Statehouse is still debating what to do about this tainted bill, but it is still fully intact. Sadly, this story was not a surprise to anyone following the bill. A full year before the bribery was revealed, local news had been reporting on the influence of dark money on the bill. In 2019 Ohio Governor Mike DeWine appointed Samuel Randazzo a former energy Lobbyist and long-time renewables opponent to chair the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio and the Ohio Power Siting Board. He resigned after the FBI raided his home after the HB 6 scandal. He was involved in two consulting companies with business ties to FirstEnergy.
Our bureaucratic, regulatory, and corrupt impediments to renewables is a missed opportunity for Ohio economically and environmentally. The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) “estimated in 2017 that it cost [Ohio] $4.2 billion of investment” [3]. So how far behind is Ohio?
Renewables don’t need subsidization anymore although there’s a good case that they should be. Dirty energy has unpaid-for knock-on effects like Asthma, COPD, Lung Cancer, Cardio Vascular disease, and coal ash ponds. Renewables just need a level playing field. Other conservative states have far more renewables than Ohio. Texas generates one fifth of it’s electricity from renewables. One might be tempted point out that Texas is much better positioned for solar power, but in fact, nearly all renewable energy in Texas comes from wind. In 2020, even neighboring Indiana, with half Ohio’s population and less area, has produced 506,000 MWh of renewable energy to Ohio’s 226,000 MWh. Our Northern Canadian neighbor Ontario with nearly Ohio’s population and GDP, generated 11,000,000 MWh of wind energy and 700,000 MWh of solar in 2019.
So considering that the 6 turbines approved since 2014 have faced a decade of regulatory hurdles and legal challenges, why exactly does representative Smith think we need a “pause” on renewables for 3 years. I haven’t the slightest idea. But whichever Ohio district you live in, I hope you write to your state representatives asking them to vote against this latest anti-competitive bill and whatever is left of HB 6 next year. Representative Todd Smith lost his primary and will be replaced in 2021 with Rodney Creech, but this bill will carry on.
Contact Rodney Creech and the bill’s remaining cosponsors Dick Stein of district 57 and Don Jones of district 95 both of whom won reelection. Write to them and/or ask for a meeting. It’s surprisingly easy to get an audience with a state representative. I’ve done it before. If you want to donate to help fight this legislation consider the Ohio Environmental Council. Lets work together to stop this bill and stop Ohio’s retrograde energy policy.
