One
result of the Ohio Legislature's stance on alternate energy affects
Clinton County and the East Clinton Schools. A proposed wind farm in
northeast Clinton County would have produced a major revenue stream
for those entities. A lease has been signed and a project had been
planed for a multi-megawatt wind farm. Investors backed away when the
state changed the law thus discouraging such investment.
Representative Cliff Rosenberger and Senator Bob Peterson voted
against alternate energy expansion and, in effect, for coal and
conventional power company interests. Even though Rosenberger's
district includes no coal producing counties and in the ten counties
in Peterson's district only one is a minor coal producer. There no
conventional power plants in Rosenberger's district and only one
significant plant in Peterson's district. Whom are they representing,
their constituents, or outside interests?
Ohio
has fallen in energy efficiency compared with other states, according
to an annual report from a group that supports clean-energy policies.
The
state ranks 27th in the country, down two spots from 2014 and down
nine spots from 2013 in a scorecard published by the nonprofit
American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy.
“The
point drops were due to stagnation on the part of Ohio,” said Annie
Gilleo, the group’s state policy manager. “If one state is
standing still, other states are going pass it.”
The
big change in Ohio was attributed to legislation last year that
placed a two-year freeze on standards for energy efficiency and
renewable energy. The standards apply to electricity utilities. Some
of those utilities pushed for the freeze, saying the costs of
compliance were greater than the benefits.
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