Tipping Point CEO Zimmer Expresses Support for Ohio Renewable Energy Standards

On September 20 and 21, 2011, Ohio Governor John Kasich hosted an energy summit to discuss the importance of energy in Ohio.  Among the many subjects covered was one near and dear to our hearts, the state's Clean Energy Standard, which requires a certain percentage of electricity in the state to come from clean energy sources, including solar energy.

As the Governor and his cabinet consider the many policy recommendations that were presented at the summit, Tipping Point would like to bring to your attention this article, which appeared on National Public Radio affiliates around the state. In the article, our CEO Eric Zimmer, expresses why we believe the CES is important for Ohio jobs and the economy:

CEO Eric Zimmer says erasing the mandates now would be a job killer. “What we need is stability. And so, bills that are thrown out willy-nilly like this that question that really put a freeze on that market. We have had challenges with our investors who we’ve been working on for close to a year now saying, ‘what’s with this bill?’ If Senate Bill 221, the renewable portion was repealed, it would absolutely kill jobs in Ohio. It would drive away a lot of jobs.”

Click here for the whole article (including a link to listen to the story).

Outgoing Head of Ohio PUC Urges Kasich To Give Clean Energy Requirments Time

We certainly hope that Governor-Elect Kasich will heed the advice of the outgoing Chairman of the Ohio Public Utilities Commission with respect to the state's clean energy standard.  Accroding to a Bloomberg report:

Alan Schriber, set to retire as chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, said a requirement that utilities produce 25 percent of their electricity from solar, wind and other clean energy sources by 2025 deserves time to be tested before Kasich makes any changes to the mandates.

During the 2010 governor's race, Kasich said he might seek repeal of the advanced energy thresholds laid out in a sweeping energy bill pushed by Gov. Ted Strickland if they prove to be driving up energy costs.

"We haven't given it a good chance yet. I'd say give it time," Schriber said in an interview with The Associated Press. "There's no reason to rush into it. There's certainly a lot of other things that are more compelling in this state to take care of."

Here's a link to the full article.