Dolan steps up to support wind energy

When Ohio Sen. Cliff Hite, R-Findlay, abruptly resigned in October, the wind-energy industry lost one of its most ardent supporters at a time when an important proposal was being considered.

This week, Sen. Matt Dolan, R-Chagrin Falls, has come forward to be the new lead sponsor of the windenergy plan, which would reduce the distance required between wind turbines and houses.

Dolan introduced Senate Bill 238, which is nearly identical to a bill that Hite had sponsored prior to his resignation amid reports of sexual harassment.

“This is about making a statement that Ohio is willing to have a broad energy portfolio,” Dolan said of the energy bill.

He is hoping to give the proposal a fresh start. It would partially undo changes made to the law in 2014, when critics of wind energy slipped a provision into an unrelated bill that later passed.

Wind-energy advocates say the 2014 rules are so restrictive that few, if any, new wind farms are likely to be built. Since then, the only wind farms to go online were ones that regulators had approved before the rule changes.

Dolan said he wants the process of debating the new bill to be an open one, in contrast to the 2014 measure, when, he says, rules were changed “in the middle of the night.”

The bill has 13 cosponsors and the support of outside groups, such as the Ohio Chamber of Commerce and the Columbus Partnership, a group of central Ohio business and civic leaders. The Republicans who control the Senate have said they are willing to consider the bill as part of a larger discussion of energy policy.

The greatest challenge could be in the Ohio House, where Majority Leader Bill Seitz, R-Cincinnati, is one of several members who supported the 2014 changes and has long raised concerns about issues related to windfarm development.

Brad Miller, a spokesman for House Republicans, said the issues in Dolan’s bill have “frequently been a topic of conversation between the House and Senate” and House leaders will “thoroughly review” the new bill.

Current rules say that a wind turbine must be about 1,300 feet from a property line, a figure based on the height of the tower and blade of a typical turbine. Dolan’s bill would reduce this distance to a level that is just above what it was before the 2014 changes. The upshot is that wind farms would be able to have more turbines than they could under current rules.

Dolan says it is important to note that county officials will continue to have a veto of sorts on wind farms. He is referring to counties’ ability to set up special tax rules for wind farms, which often play a big role in developers’ decisions on where to do projects.

The Columbus Partnership says it supports the bill because Ohio should be in a position to meet the demand of companies that want access to clean energy.

“We have seen an increasing privatesector demand for renewable energy, including wind, in our economic-development efforts at the Partnership, and believe Ohio’s business climate would be enhanced if we can offer companies a wide array of affordable, clean-energy choices,” said Alex Fischer, the partnership’s president and CEO, in a statement.

The next step for Dolan’s bill is its first committee hearing, which likely will take place next month.