Jun 16 2014
Gov. John Kasich has an opportunity to retain a wind industry in Ohio if he uses his line-item veto on Monday to remove an anti-wind-energy provision from the budget bill – with $2.5 billion in current investment, hundreds of millions in local leases and tax payments, over 60 factories, and thousands of Ohio jobs on the line.
On Friday, Ohio became the first state to slow down its clean energy progress, despite the billions of dollars and thousands of jobs generated by the sector. The passage of Ohio's Senate Bill 310 freezes the state's renewable electricity standard for two years, and will have a chilling effect on renewable energy development. It may encourage developers and manufacturers to move to neighboring states with similar resources and friendlier business climates.
"The U.S. wind industry is disappointed in Friday's news, but hopeful that Gov. Kasich will demonstrate his commitment to an 'all-of-the-above' energy strategy by encouraging legislative leaders to restart and strengthen the state's commitment to renewable energy through the S.B. 310 study process," said Rob Gramlich, Senior Vice President of Public Policy of the American Wind Energy Association. "Meanwhile, the Governor has stated his interest in having renewable energy as part of the state's energy mix. If wind is to be part of that mix, he must use his line-item veto power on Monday to remove the punitive setback requirement in the budget bill."
Besides the slowdown the industry may experience as a result of Senate Bill 310, increasing Ohio's setback limits in the budget bill would effectively kill the $2.5 billion worth of projects now in development, and billions more in the planning stages. The state already requires turbines to be located at least 1,300 feet from the nearest inhabited residence, among the most restrictive policies in America. A provision added to the budget bill, H.B. 483, would dramatically increase that requirement to apply to a turbine's distance from the nearest property line, not just the nearest home. Wind energy companies say that would make it impossible to cost-effectively site any further wind farms in Ohio:
"It appears designed to make the construction of utility-scale wind farms commercially unviable," wrote Gabriel Alonso, CEO of EDP Renewables North America, in a June 4 letter to Gov. Kasich. He said his company's Timber Road project represents a $200 million investment in Paulding County and has "tremendous local support," and that EDP plans another $800 million of investment in Ohio, "all of which would be devastated by this provision."
Source: http://www.awea.org/