End Renewable Energy Mandates
What in the world were Ohio legislators and then-Gov. Ted Strickland thinking when, in 2008, they agreed there was nothing wrong with forcing state residents and businesses to pay more than necessary for electricity?
Answer: They were thinking it was the politically correct thing to do. It was. In some minds, it still is.
In 2008, the General Assembly and Strickland went along with a proposal that electric utilities be required to include certain percentages of “alternative energy” in what they sell. That means abandoning conventional fossil fuel plants such as those burning coal, in favor of “green” generation such as that from solar and wind facilities.
Such electricity is substantially more expensive — at least, without the billions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies provided by President Barack Obama’s administration. The current White House apparently believes consumers will not notice they are paying sky-high prices for electricity if the increase is kept off their monthly utility bills and transferred instead to their income tax returns.
Two years ago, the General Assembly and Gov. John Kasich agreed to a two-year freeze of the so-called “renewables mandate.”
This week, the Ohio House of Representatives voted 51-36 to make the rules optional for the next three years.
State senators should follow suit as soon as possible.
The mandates ought to be simply abandoned, of course. Ohioans should not be forced by government to buy anything that costs more than necessary, as long as all applicable laws are being followed in supplying the lower-priced alternative.
It has taken eight years, but finally Buckeye State lawmakers seem to be recognizing that not fleecing constituents is the new political correctness.
COMMENTS