In October, the Public Utility Commission of Ohio (PUCO) issued a request for comments regarding the appropriate steps to be taken with respect to energy efficiency programs in Ohio once the statewide cap of 17.5 percent—set by House Bill 6—has been met.
On November 25, the Combined Heat and Power Alliance sent a set of comments to the PUCO on behalf of 11 manufacturers and trade associations with operations, employees, customers, and interests in Ohio, strongly urging the Commission not to terminate the utility energy efficiency programs, and urging utilities to continue to spend ratepayer funds on the energy efficiency programs after the cap has been met.
The Alliance signed onto another set of business comments to the PUCO—sent by Ceres on behalf of 25 major employers, businesses, trade associations, service providers, manufacturers, large energy consumers, and companies with investments and interests in Ohio—that expresses similar language strongly supporting continued ratepayer funding for and continued operation of existing utility energy efficiency programs through the end of 2020.
Additionally, the Ceres BICEP (Business for Innovative Climate and Energy Policy) Network, representing 55 major U.S. businesses—many of which have operations and facilities in Ohio—submitted separate comments supporting continuation of the energy efficiency programs.
The Alliance set of business comments can be found online here, and the Ceres set of business comments can be found online here.