A report from Americans for Prosperity-Ohio and The Buckeye Institute outlines principles for Ohio lawmakers addressing energy policy. It examines challenges including rising demand, reliability, affordability and regulatory barriers involving power plants and transmission lines.
A Report Outlines Energy Policy Principles
Build Ohio First launched with support from Americans for Prosperity-Ohio and The Buckeye Institute, according to cleveland.com. The coalition's stated priorities include producing more accurate forecasts of future electricity demand and shaping policies governing new power plants and transmission lines. It supports what it calls an all-of-the-above energy policy that includes natural gas, nuclear, wind and solar power, rather than betting on a single fuel source.
The group is the Ohio arm of a national advocacy organization called Powering Prosperity, and its executive director, Matthew Hargarten, said the coalition's goal is to pass bills, not just raise awareness. He said Build Ohio First plans to help politicians talk about energy in the coming months and intends to work with whichever candidates win Ohio's governor's race and General Assembly seats this November. Hargarten said the coalition is looking beyond the election, adding that its work is not dependent on which candidates win. He put it bluntly: the grid does not care which party generates the electrons. Build Ohio First hopes to add more businesses and organizations to its ranks as it builds out its lobbying push, and Rob Nichols serves as a spokesman for the coalition.
Electricity Costs and Data Centers Loom Over the Fall Ballot
The timing lines up with Ohio's fall elections, where rising electricity prices and the growth of data centers have become live issues for candidates. Americans for Prosperity Action has endorsed Republican U.S. Sen. Jon Husted and is knocking on doors to help elect him, while Vivek Ramaswamy has floated a data center plan promising cheap or free electricity to people living near the facilities. Those competing pitches underscore how energy costs have become a campaign flashpoint even as Build Ohio First frames its effort as separate from any single candidate's fortunes.
The coalition commissioned a poll of Ohio voters that found support for building more energy infrastructure, including when respondents weighed costs, community effects and who benefits, per the same account from cleveland.com. The polling also found favorable views toward solar, natural gas, wind and nuclear power, alongside some opposition to nuclear power specifically. Respondents backed modernizing the existing electric grid and said utilities should have to show they are making the best use of current infrastructure before getting permission to build more.
Existing Law Already Limits Where Wind and Solar Can Go
Part of the challenge facing Build Ohio First is a 2021 Ohio law that allows county commissioners to block large wind and solar projects, letting them prohibit such developments across all or part of unincorporated county areas. Counties do not have that same blanket authority over natural gas or other fossil-fuel power plants, creating an uneven regulatory landscape the coalition will have to navigate as it pushes for policy changes covering all forms of generation.
Real-world grid strain has already surfaced closer to home. Lakewood residents endured repeated power outages, including several during extreme heat, and an investigation found probable violations tied to those outages. State regulators are now considering a $3 million penalty against the FirstEnergy utility serving Lakewood, a case that illustrates the reliability concerns Build Ohio First says it wants state policy to address.
The Report Lays Out Six Principles for Lawmakers
Apart from the coalition's polling push, Americans for Prosperity-Ohio released a report called Better Energy Policy for Ohio in collaboration with The Buckeye Institute. The report was co-authored by Rea S. Hederman Jr., vice president of policy and executive director of the Economic Research Center at The Buckeye Institute, and Greg R. Lawson, a research fellow at the institute. It focuses on Ohio's current energy challenges, including rising demand, reliability, affordability and regulatory barriers involving power plants and transmission lines, while outlining principles for lawmakers to use when reforming energy policy.
According to Americans for Prosperity, the report's six principles are meant to give the 136th General Assembly a roadmap that includes ending government subsidies the group says damage energy markets and focusing state policy on reliability and affordability. The report also argues Ohio's power grid needs to meet growing demand while staying operational during severe weather and peak surges. Between the coalition's lobbying effort and the policy report, the two conservative groups are pressing lawmakers on multiple fronts to rewrite how Ohio plans, builds and pays for its energy future.
