Kasich vetoes extended clean energy requirements freeze

Ohio Gov. John Kasich vetoed Substitute House Bill 554 this week, which would have made energy efficiency and renewable energy requirements for utilities voluntary until 2019.

Ohio’s energy standards were frozen two years ago and the bill would have effectively extended the freeze. Unless the legislature overrides Kasich’s veto, however, the standards will be reinstated in January 2017.

“Sub. HB 554 risks undermining this progress by taking away some of those energy generation options, particularly the very options most prized by the companies poised to create many jobs in Ohio in the
coming years, such as high technology firms,” Kasich said in a press release.

Rep. Ron Amstutz (R-OH) introduced the bill, recommending the continuation of the requirements freeze. Various incarnations of the bill were discussed by legislators, including a version eliminating the standards all together, before settling on the bill that was sent to Kasich.

“What we’re doing here is not an overhaul,” Amstutz said. “It’s a tune-up.”

The legislature advanced the bill after hearings in which various businesses and renewable energy advocates testified against the freeze.

“The two-year freeze has cost Ohio jobs and investments. In the last three years, while Ohio has been idling, Michigan has attracted over $1.1 billion in renewable energy investments,” Ted Ford, president of Ohio Advanced Energy Economy, said. “With this veto, Ohio can begin to move forward with sensible energy policy next year – one that can bring back advanced energy jobs and investment to Ohio.”