Ohio House Speaker Husted favors market-set electric rates, by John Funk, Cleveland Plain Dealer, January 11, 2008
Cleveland—Allowing utilities to base electricity rates on wholesale markets is the best way to keep prices affordable, Ohio House Speaker Jon Husted said Thursday—setting the stage for a showdown with Gov. Ted Strickland. Husted's policy statement came a day after State Rep. John Hagan, chair of the House Public Utilities Committee, said the lawmakers were planning significant changes to Strickland's bill, which is pending in the house.

Related editorial:

Husted's energy goals, Cleveland Plain Dealer, January 11, 2008
The PD editorial board advocates a detailed legislative solution ensuring both the end users and providers of power have the proper incentive to invest and expand in Ohio. It also advises that rate predictability for customers is an essential component of Ohio's future.

Related event:

Akron Press Club: Electric Regulation in Ohio, Friday, January 25, 2008, 11:30 AM - 1:15 PM
Luncheon program open to media and the public. Fee: $15 for non-APC members.
Moderator: Michael Douglas, Editorial Page Editor, Akron Beacon Journal
Panelists: Janine L. Migden-Ostrander, Consumers' Counsel,
Office of the Ohio Consumers' Counsel; Mark R. Shanahan, Energy Adviser to Governor Strickland; William A. Spratley, Executive Director, Green Energy Ohio; and Leila L. Vespoli, Senior Vice President & General Counsel
FirstEnergy Corporation

Cuyahoga County approves $1 million contract to study wind turbine project, by Joe Guillen, Cleveland Plain Dealer, January 9, 2008
Cleveland—Cuyahoga County commissioners on Tuesday approved a $1 million contract to study whether winds off of Lake Erie can provide Northeast Ohio with power and jobs. The county's Great Lakes Energy Task Force is leading a multi-entity effort to create the proposed Lake Erie Wind Energy Center.

Related stories:

Wind power study finds strong winds off Lake Erie for turbine project, by Tom Breckenridge, Cleveland Plain Dealer, January 11, 2007
Cleveland—A two-year study of wind off downtown Cleveland's shoreline found average speeds markedly stronger than those already turning wind turbines in Bowling Green, the nonprofit Green Energy Ohio reported Thursday.

Manufacturing city races to capture wind, by Dave Alexander, Muskegon (Mich.) Chronicle, January 6, 2008
A Michigan blogger weighs in on the Cleveland Foundation's support for the proposed Lake Erie Wind Energy Center. CWRU and PUCO also support the development of a demonstration project of up to 10 wind turbines on Lake Erie just off the downtown lakefront.

Akron-area entrepreneur aims to plug commuters in, Associated Press via Toledo Blade, January 11, 2008
Tallmadge, Ohio—In 2003, Akron-area entrepreneur Dana Myers, president of Myers Motors, bought a California company that manufactured the Sparrow, a tiny all-electric car capable of highway speeds. Myers spent four years improving the design and redubbed it the NmG (for No More Gas). For around ten-cents a mile, the NmG can range 30 miles on a single charge. Myers custom manufactures two NmGs a month. You can buy one for about $36,000 from the company's Web site—but Myers' still loses money on each sale.

Race to make electric cars stalled by battery problems; GM, Toyota seek ways to snuff out fire risk; start-ups see opening, by Norihiko Shirouzu, Wall Street Journal, January 11, 2008 (Subscription)
Detroit—General Motors and Toyota will display a new breed of electric cars at the North American International Auto Show this weekend. But for all the hoopla, nobody yet has figured out how to make a small enough battery that will hold a big enough charge without being a fire risk.

Report raps big subsidies for Chinese steelmakers, by Len Boselovic, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, January 8, 2008
Washington—The Alliance for American Manufacturing released a study showing China's rapid rise in steel producing was stoked by an estimated $27 billion in government subsidies between 2000 and mid-2007. Data from the International Iron and Steel Institute show that China went from being a net importer of steel in late 2005 to being the world's largest steel exporter in 2006.

Related links:

AAM Press Release about "Energy Subsidies in China" study, January 7, 2008

"Shedding Light on Energy Subsidies in China; An analysis of China's steel industry 2000-2007," AAM, January 2008 (PDF, 1.3M)

Editorial: Jobless in Ohio, Akron Beacon Journal, January 8, 2008
Akron—The state's unemployment compensation fund is in sorry shape, and that jeopardizes a safety net benefiting all Ohioans. Ohio must take the steps recommended by the Ohio Unemployment Compensation Advisory Council to repair the financial condition of its unemployment compensation trust fund.

Ohio leads the way for start-up business success in the polymer industry, Ohio Business Development Coalition via Reuters, January 8, 2007
Columbus—The OBDC profiles the success of start-up Akron Polymer Systems, founded in 2002 in a spin-off from the University of Akron. The company's founders explains why two grants from Ohio's Third Frontier Foundation and Ohio's deep polymer research talent pool have been critical to its progress towards its goal of becoming an OEM supplier of polymers and polymer products.

Manufacturers Alliance predicts 2008 manufacturing recession, by Rick Barrett, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, December 28, 2007
Arlington, Va.—The industrial trade group Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI predicts five specific economic shocks will send U.S. manufacturing into a mild recession in 2008. The group's Quarterly Industrial Outlook predicted U.S. manufacturing growth will slow from 4.7 percent in 2006 to an estimated 1.9 percent in 2007, no growth in 2008 and a rebound in 2009 when new housing construction makes a comeback.

Goodyear To Raise Prices By As Much As 7% Effective Feb. 1, by Jeff Bennett, Dow Jones Newswires, January 7, 2008
Detroit —Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. will raise prices on all its car and light truck tires in North America by as much 7% starting Feb. 1 due to rising costs in areas including raw materials and transportation. The increase will include the Goodyear, Kelly and Dunlop brands.

Diebold aims its ATMs at rural China, by Allison Grant, Cleveland Plain Dealer, January 4, 2008
Green, Ohio—Diebold Inc. announced it has sold 6,000 ATMs to five Chinese banks between July and December. According to a 2006 study, there are only 73 ATMs per million people in China compared to 1,353 ATMs per million people in the United States.

Chrysler's Toledo assembly plant to lose 780 jobs in February, by Tim Higgins, Detroit Free Press, January 3, 2008
Detroit—As part of Chrysler's previously announced plan to eliminate 8,500 to 10,000 hourly jobs, the company announced it will cut 780 jobs at its Toledo Assembly plant which builds Jeep Liberty and Dodge Nitro. The company also released details on planned cuts at four other plants located in Detroit, Belvidere, Ill., Sterling Heights, Mich. and Toronto.

Related story: Buyouts may eliminate need for 750 Jeep layoffs, Akron Beacon Journal, January 5, 2008

Akron General, Akron Global Business Accelerator will collaborate on medical-related development, by Paula Schleis, Akron Beacon Journal, December 28, 2007
Akron—A memorandum of understanding between Akron General Medical Center's Office of Technology Transfer, Commercialization and Innovation and Akron Global Business Accelerator is intended to generate opportunities for local companies to research, develop and test medical products and services.

Canadian company's headquarters moving to Wooster, by Paula Schleis, Akron Beacon Journal, December 22, 2007
Wooster—Speed North America, a manufacturer of monofilaments such as the nylon strings used in fishing lines and garden trimmers, will move its HQ and manufacturing operations from Montreal to Wooster, creating 50 jobs.

Goodyear gets seed funding grant for NASA Glenn Research Center project, Goodyear, December 13, 2007
Akron—Goodyear and NASA Glenn Research Center received a NASA Innovative Partnership Program grant to develop non-pneumatic tires for lunar rovers. The original lunar rover tires were only required to support about 60 pounds of weight and last for a maximum of 75 miles. The new fleet of lunar vehicles will require tires to support about 10 times that weight and last for up to 100 times the distance.