Job Killing $29.4 Billion Subsidy?

Ohio utility proposals to “re-regulate” would cost Ohio electricity consumers $29.4 billion, the OMA Energy Committee was told this week.

Bill Siderewicz, President of Clean Energy Future, a developer of natural gas generation facilities, spoke with the committee about the costs of subsidizing Ohio utilities versus relying on the existing energy markets.   He said utility proposals would cost consumers $14.4 billion in subsidization of older coal units, and $15 billion for “mandatory construction of new gas-fired plants by inefficient utilities.”

He noted that low cost, abundant local natural gas has been the “spark plug” for the development of new independent power producer power generation in Ohio.  He counts 12 natural gas generation projects under development in the state with a whopping 10,836 MW of capacity.

He said that the Utica shale formation is currently sized at 3,192 trillion cubic feet.  “If every Ohio based mega watt of generation ran on Utica gas, we have a 2,660 year fuel supply,” according to Siderewicz.  11/17/2016