EDF: Ohio Supreme Court paves the way for future expansion of energy efficiency

[Please note, HB6, House Bill 6, is the very controversial Ohio state law, bailing out old atomic reactors and coal plants, to the tune of $1.1 billion of ratepayer money. HB6 also gutted Ohio state law establishing renewable portfolio and efficiency standards...]

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·         If HB6 is overturned, this new ruling by the Ohio Supreme Court will give utilities the freedom to implement their energy efficiency programs broadly and unhindered by an arbitrary cap. https://www.edf.org/ZUNw  

https://www.edf.org/media/ohio-supreme-court-paves-way-future-expansion-energy-efficiency

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Erica Fick, (512)-691-3406, efick@edf.org 

Ohio Supreme Court paves the way for future expansion of energy efficiency
EDF statement from John Finnigan, Lead Counsel, Energy Transition Strategy

(COLUMBUS, OH – October 15, 2019) In a landmark decision that could help expand the application of energy efficiency statewide, the Ohio Supreme Court today overturned a 2017 ruling by the state Public Utilities Commission establishing a first-of-its-kind cost cap on energy efficiency program spending for utility giant, FirstEnergy.

“Today’s Ohio Supreme Court decision affirms the true value of energy efficiency, which is widely regarded as one of the best energy solutions, because it is non-polluting and less expensive than other generation resources that require major capital investments and ongoing fuel and maintenance costs,” said John Finnigan, lead counsel for Environmental Defense Fund’s Energy Program. “From a legal perspective, this is an important ruling because it upholds the notion that the legislature has primacy in crafting energy policy; regulators can’t apply a cost cap where the statute does not expressly provide for one.”

Today’s ruling comes after Environmental Defense Fund and other parties appealed this decision by the PUCO, arguing that the state’s energy efficiency statute – enacted in 2008 by the legislature – does not contain a cost cap, and therefore the PUCO does not have the authority to enforce one on FirstEnergy, or any of the other four utilities in the state. In its filing, EDF pointed out that each energy efficiency program must pass a cost-effectiveness test, where the utility must demonstrate that program benefits outweigh the costs.

However, this new ruling cannot technically do anything for the Ohioans or the environment till HB6 – which eviscerated Ohio’s energy efficiency programs when passed this summer – is overturned. There is a referendum campaign underway, and if successful, this new ruling by the Supreme Court will give utilities the freedom to implement their energy efficiency programs broadly and unhindered by an arbitrary cap on costs exceeding 4% of their total revenues. [emphasis added]

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Environmental Defense Fund (edf.org), a leading international nonprofit organization, creates transformational solutions to the most serious environmental problems. EDF links science, economics, law, and innovative private-sector partnerships. Connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, and our Energy Program blog.

DOE wonders if nuclear energy hydrogen production could help save nuclear power

As reported by Hydrogen Fuel News. See the link to the article below.

This is yet more pro-nuclear hype from the U.S. Department of Energy -- re: atomic reactors as a source of hydrogen production. Of course, it's just another scheme to bailout reactors at public expense. And also, the hydrogen could well be tritium -- that is, radioactive and hazardous!

Davis-Besse in Ohio, a dangerously age-degraded atomic reactor that has just been given life support yet again in the form of a billion dollar bailout passed by the state legislature, is a beneficiary of DOE's taxpayer-funded hydrogen production bailout.

Wind power and solar power can also generate hydrogen, as by separating hydrogen and oxygen from water with electricity. The hydrogen can then be stored, to provide electricity (or vehicle fuel), at night, or when the wind is not blowing. Only, renewables-generated hydrogen would not be radioactive!

http://www.hydrogenfuelnews.com/doe-wonders-if-nuclear-energy-hydrogen-production-could-help-save-nuclear-power/8538550/

DOE wonders if nuclear energy hydrogen production could help save nuclear power - hydrogenfuelnews.com Nuclear is struggling to compete in certain markets. Nuclear energy hydrogen production, which would involve using nuclear’s thermal heat and electricity to produce hydrogen, could help existing nuclear energy to compete in certain markets. According to the Office of Nuclear Energy, with the rise ... www.hydrogenfuelnews.com

HB 6 will not be the last flawed bill citizens might want to overturn

Op-ed by Thomas Suddes, a member of the Cleveland Plain Dealer editorial board, who writes from Athens, OH.

Suddes writes:

Why such big stakes over a bill that does indeed have pluses and minuses – for the consumer as well as for the environment? (Keep in mind that this “environmental” bill will subsidize two coal-fueled power plants, one of them in Indiana.)

It's hard to see the pluses for the minuses. $1.1 billion in bailouts paid for by surcharges on ratepayer electric bills by all Ohioans (even those not in FirstEnergy service areas!), to prop up economically failed, dangerously age-degraded atomic reactors at Davis-Besse and Perry, as well as those old, dirty coal burners he mentions, is not a plus for consumers nor the environment.

Even the small amount of subsidy for solar projects that already had been approved is way too little good, to justify the way too much bad, in HB6.

To the contrary, HB6 guts Ohio's renewable portfolio standand, as well as its quite effective energy efficiency requirements, that have already saved Ohioans many hundreds of millions of dollars, averting the waste of pricey energy.

Anti-bailout group seeks court injunction

As reported by the Toledo Blade.

Ohio nuclear bailout referendum campaign wins temporary court victory

As reported by the Cleveland Plain Dealer.