In a letter sent to Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) is urging opposition to H.B.6, which the group argues would establish an unfair township referendum process that discriminates against wind development, as well as eliminate Ohio’s renewable portfolio standard (RPS).
According to a new analysis by members of ACORE’s U.S. Partnership for Renewable Energy Finance program, these provisions in the legislation – in addition to overly restrictive wind setback requirements already in place – could cost the state more than $11 billion in new investment and economic activity.
“Effective and predictable long-term policy is essential to unlock the immense investment potential for renewable energy in Ohio,” ACORE’s president and CEO, Gregory Wetstone, wrote in the letter.
On behalf of its member companies, many of which invest and develop projects in Ohio, ACORE is respectfully urging DeWine to take the following action:
- Drop the “onerous and unfair” township referendum provision that discriminates against wind development;
- Implement more reasonable wind setback requirements; and
- Maintain the 12.5% RPS and oppose its elimination.
According to ACORE, the renewable energy sector currently employs nearly 10,000 Ohioans and contributes millions of dollars each year in local revenue across the Buckeye State.
The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) has also previously spoken out against H.B.6. In April, Andrew Gohn, eastern region director of state affairs at AWEA, says the bill would “devastate Ohio’s clean energy progress, gutting the state’s clean energy commitments and replacing them with customer bailouts for older, uncompetitive power plants.”
