Bill to ease clean-energy standards expedited

The latest proposal to weaken Ohio’s clean-energy standards is on a fast track, as a key lawmaker said Tuesday that he wants to see the measure pass on the House floor within a matter of weeks.

But that doesn’t change the underlying reality that Gov. John Kasich opposes the plan, a stance he reiterated this week.

House Bill 114 had its first hearing before the House Public Utilities Committee on Tuesday. The measure says the renewable-energy mandates would become optional, and energy-efficiency standards would be reduced. This is a revision to a 2008 law that set the rules, which must be followed by electricity utilities.

The committee chairman, Rep. Bill Seitz, R-Cincinnati, said he intends to move quickly to pass the bill, with votes in committee and on the House floor within weeks.

Opponents of the bill say the clean-energy rules should remain in place because they are good for the economy and the environment. Also, opponents note that Kasich vetoed a similar bill in December.

“The House is picking a fight it can’t win,” said Samantha Williams, an attorney for the National Resources Defense Council. “They should be taking the lead to support an industry that employs 100,000 Ohioans and saves money for families and businesses, rather than pulling the rug out from under it.”

The bill’s chief sponsor, Rep. Louis Blessing, R-Cincinnati, said mandates

have an “inequitable nature” because some energy sources are favored over others.

Lawmakers could try to override a Kasich veto, which requires a two-thirds vote. Some members wanted to attempt an override in December, but no vote took place.

Kasich opposes the bill, and others like it, because he says it sends the wrong message about Ohio’s priorities. This stance puts him at odds with his fellow Republicans, who hold large majorities in the House and Senate.

“I haven’t changed my mind,” Kasich said on Monday, citing his desire the attract tech companies, such as Amazon and Google, that believe strongly in clean-energy

investments.

“How will (those companies) feel if we went backwards in the state?”