ADVOCACY

Ohio Legislative Service Commission
Am. Sub. S.B. No. 221

What follows is the Bill Analysis found online here: http://www.lsc.state.oh.us/analyses.html

Bill Analysis:

Advanced Energy Fund Assistance

(R.C. 4928.01(A)(25), 4928.61, and 4928.621)
The bill adds revenue sources for continuing law's Advanced Energy Fund, which is administered by DOD to provide grants, contracts, loans, loan participation agreements, linked deposits, and energy production incentives for advanced energy projects, and revises the definition of "advanced energy project."

Revenue sources

The bill adds two new revenue sources for the Advanced Energy Fund: renewable energy compliance payments imposed by the PUCO pursuant to the bill (see "Renewable and solar benchmark enforcement," above) and forfeitures assessed by the PUCO for violations of the bill's energy efficiency provisions (see "Energy efficiency," above). The Fund will continue under the bill to receive revenue from the sources currently authorized by law: namely, a surcharge on all customers of electric distribution utilities and any participating municipal electric utilities and electric cooperatives;[6] payments, repayments, and income from funded projects; and interest earnings on the Fund.

"Advanced energy project"

Under current law, an "advanced energy project" is any technology, product, activity, or management practice or strategy that facilitates the generation or use of electricity and reduces or supports the reduction of energy consumption or supports the production of clean, renewable energy for industrial, distribution, commercial, institutional, governmental, research, not-for-profit, or residential energy users. Such energy expressly includes, but is not limited to, wind power; geothermal energy; solar thermal energy; and energy produced by micro turbines in distributed generation applications with high electric efficiencies, by combined heat and power applications, by fuel cells powered by hydrogen derived from wind, solar, biomass, hydroelectric, landfill gas, or geothermal sources, or by solar electric generation, landfill gas, or hydroelectric generation.
Instead of that last sentence, the bill provides that an "advanced energy project" includes, but is not limited to, advanced energy resources and renewable energy resources, the definitions for which appear in the "Alternative energy requirements," section of this analysis, above).

Additionally, without intending to limit who otherwise can apply for state assistance for advanced energy projects, the bill makes all of the following eligible for funding as an "advanced energy project":

(1) Any Edison Technology Center,[7] for the purposes of creating an Advanced Energy Manufacturing Center in Ohio that will provide for the exchange of information and expertise regarding advanced energy, assisting with the design of advanced energy projects, developing workforce training programs for such projects, and encouraging investment in advanced energy manufacturing technologies for advanced energy products and investment in sustainable manufacturing operations that create high-paying jobs in Ohio;

(2) Any university or group of universities in Ohio that conducts research on any advanced energy resource (see "Alternative energy requirements," above) or any not-for-profit corporation formed to address issues affecting the price and availability of electricity and having members that are small businesses, for the purpose of encouraging research in Ohio that is directed at innovation in or the refinement of those resources or for the purpose of educational outreach regarding those resources.

The bill requires the university, university group, or not-for-profit corporation to use the funding to establish such a program of research or education outreach and requires that any such educational outreach be directed at an increase in, innovation regarding, or refinement of access by or of application or understanding of Ohio businesses and consumers regarding, advanced energy resources;

(3) Any independent group located in Ohio, the express objective of which is to educate Ohio small businesses regarding renewable energy resources and energy efficiency programs;

(4) Any small business located in Ohio electing to utilize an advanced energy project or participate in an energy efficiency program.

House Approves Pro-Consumer, Pro-Business Energy Bill

For Immediate Release, April 22, 2008

Cleveland—Advocates for employers and residential customers praised the Ohio House-passed changes to the comprehensive energy bill Tuesday, saying they are designed to provide the safeguards needed to protect residential customers and businesses from the rate shock seen in other states where a dysfunctional market set the price of electricity. (Read complete press release)