New Report: Ohio’s Clean Energy Progress Put on Hold

Last year, a coalition of electric utilities and fossil fuel interest groups lobbied for and won a “freeze” of Ohio's Clean Energy Law, halting the ramp-up of Ohio’s renewable electricity and energy efficiency standards, and permanently dismantling provisions of the law. Frontier Group's new analysis, Progress on Hold, found that the clean energy freeze will increase pollution, and result in Ohioans missing out on energy efficiency savings worth billions.

Gideon Weissman

Former Policy Analyst, Frontier Group

In 2008, Ohio passed its Clean Energy Law with bipartisan support, promising environmental and economic progress for a state that relied overwhelmingly on coal, and that wasted far too much electricity in its homes and businesses.  For the last four years, Frontier Group tracked its progress, and found that the law was spurring investment in clean energy, helping businesses save on electricity, and cleaning the air.[pdf]

But the promise was not to last. Last year, a coalition of electric utilities and fossil fuel interest groups lobbied for and won a “freeze” of the law, halting the ramp-up of Ohio’s renewable electricity and energy efficiency standards, and permanently dismantling provisions of the law. The move represented an enormous step backward at a time when America is just beginning to make real progress to prevent the worst effects of global warming – the EPA’s new Clean Power Plan, for example, will soon set state pollution targets that are predicted to reduce national electric sector carbon dioxide emissions by 30 percent. And the freeze has already inflicted damage on what had been growing into a booming state clean energy sector.
 
Now, as state decision-makers wrangle with Ohio’s clean energy future, Frontier Group is releasing a new analysis of just what a permanent freeze would mean for Ohio, called: Progress on Hold: The Freeze on Ohio’s Clean Energy Law Could Mean Big Costs and Dirtier Air.
 
We found that  the clean energy freeze will increase pollution, and result in Ohioans missing out on energy efficiency savings worth billions:
 
• In 2016, Ohioans will see an extra 3.7 million metric tons of carbon dioxide pollution.
• If the freeze were to last through 2025, Ohioans could see an extra 159 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emitted.
• If the freeze on renewables were to last through 2025, Ohioans could miss out on the generation of enough clean, renewable energy to power more than 1 million typical Ohio homes, as well as the installation of more than 38,000 solar roofs across the state.
• If the freeze on efficiency is extended to 2025, Ohioans could miss out on more than 17,500 GWh of energy efficiency savings in that year alone, worth more than $2.5 billion at today’s rates.
 
It’s time for Ohio to get back on the path to clean air, and to renew its commitment to renewable energy and efficiency. 

Authors

Gideon Weissman

Former Policy Analyst, Frontier Group