Ohio has lost millions of dollars in investment since state legislators slapped a two-year freeze on renewable energy and energy efficiency programs a year ago.
“We heard about projects being cancelled, sometimes very large-scale projects,” said Gwynne Taraska, co-author of a survey of renewable energy business leaders. “We heard about companies shifting their focus to other states. We heard about difficulty attracting new investment. We heard about layoffs, and hiring generally being stalled.”
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“The energy efficiency and renewable energy standards, set in 2008, required Ohio to reduce energy consumption by 22% by 2025, and for at least 12% of the Buckeye State’s energy portfolio to come from renewable sources,” PNS reports. “By freezing the standards, Taraska says Ohio took a ‘tool out of its toolbox’ for meeting the goals of the EPA’s Clean Power Plan, which calls for a 29% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions from 2012 levels by 2030.” (h/t to Midwest Energy News for pointing us to this story)
