May 21, 2008—Ohio Governor Ted Strickland recently approved a bill that will require the state’s utilities to draw on renewable or advanced energy for 25% of their electricity supply by 2025, according to a report from the US Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).
Senate Bill 221 requires renewable energy to meet at least half of that requirement, which starts at 0.5% by the end of 2009 and gradually ratchets up to 25% by the end of 2024. So the actual renewable energy requirement starts at 0.25% at the end of 2009 and increases to 12.5% by the end of 2024, says EERE.
The bill innovatively allows half of the 25% requirement to be met through demand-side management, energy efficiency improvements for customers, and efficiency improvements at existing power plants that increase the plants’ generating capacity.
The legislation also allows for power produced from customer-located cogeneration systems, which produce both heat and electricity, and from “clean coal” power plants, advanced nuclear power plants, and advanced waste-to-energy plants. In addition, the bill lifts some restrictions on net metering of customer-located power generators and lifts all restrictions on net metering of generators located at hospitals.
