Smaller projects quietly add electricity

While giant wind farms get much of the attention, there is a small but steady market for more-modest wind energy projects at businesses and homes, and Ohio is a leader.

Ohio added 1.54 megawatts of wind energy through these types of projects last year, which ranked seventh in the country, according to a new report from the U.S. Department of Energy.

Including the additions, Ohio has 42.1 megawatts installed since 2003, which ranks sixth in the country. Texas is the leader with 197.7 megawatts.

“A lot of people don’t recognize how mainstream this industry has become,” said Jose Zayas, director of the Department of Energy’s Wind Energy Technologies Office, speaking of wind power.

The technical term for these small projects is “distributed wind,” which means they are providing electricity in the immediate vicinity. In contrast, wind farms are much larger in scale and generate electricity that is

The states alleged that the insurer failed to apply a critical security patch intended to prevent hacking or a viral infection, Schneiderman’s office said.

Ohio was not among the states involved in the case.

“We’re pleased to reach the settlement. We believe the settlement is consistent with our longstanding commitment to protect customer information,” said Eric Hardgrove, a Nationwide spokesman.

Hardgrove said Nationwide was attacked by a sophisticated criminal network and Nationwide’s security programs allowed the insurer to contain the damage. The company then alerted federal law enforcement and state insurance authorities.

The company is not aware of any consumer who was hurt by the breach, he said.

“Nationwide demonstrated true carelessness while collecting and

retaining information from prospective customers, needlessly exposing their personal data in the process,” Schneiderman said in a statement. “This settlement should serve as a reminder that companies have a responsibility to protect customers’ personal information regardless of whether or not those consumers become customers.”

The settlement requires Nationwide to take steps to update its security practices and to ensure the timely application of patches and other updates to its security software. Nationwide also must be more transparent about its data-collection practices, including telling consumers that it retains their personal information even if they don’t become a customer, according to the settlement.

After the breach, Nationwide offered affected customers with free credit monitoring, identity theft protection, identity fraud expense coverage up to $1 million and access to

credit reports.

Money from the settlement goes to the states to cover their costs for the investigation or for a consumer protection law enforcement fund, according to the settlement.

Even though Ohio was not a part of the investigation, consumers in the state were covered under Nationwide’s offer for credit monitoring and other steps the insurer took to protect those were affected, the insurer said.

Ohio and other states opted to not to participate in the settlement, Hardgrove said.

“When Nationwide self-detected, remediated and reported that we were a victim of a criminal cyberattack and notified consumers and regulators alike, many regulators, like Ohio, were satisfied that Nationwide had taken the appropriate steps to protect its members and consumers,” he said.