Buckeye Reporter

Jon Williams, who serves as the managing director of customer experience and distribution technology for AEP Ohio, recently testified against the community solar bill at a hearing of the Ohio House of Representatives' Public Utilities Committee. The proposed legislation, known as HB 197, aims to establish a system of subsidies to bolster the growth of uneconomic small-scale solar facilities within the state.

Williams argued that "the bill adds additional costs by allowing projects to be located anywhere in the electric distribution utility’s territory. This concept would lead to customers receiving bill credits for generation, transmission, and distribution costs, paid by other customers, for electricity potentially generated hundreds of miles away."

In his testimony, Williams highlighted that Ohio is grappling with an increasing demand for electricity. However, he said that "this bill does little to help Ohio meet the significant demands of a growing grid, regardless of passage." He further noted that instead of addressing the escalating demand from customers,"the bill contains multiple harmful provisions that raise rates for customers not participating in the program while benefiting out-of-state developers through unjustified financial subsidies."

Ohio state Rep. Sharon Ray, who is a cosponsor of HB 197, defended the legislation saying "we see this legislation as a free market solution to Ohio’s all-of-the-above energy generation needs. Developers may not go back to the PUCO and ask for rate recovery should they make a bad business decision."

However, Williams underscored the subsidies inherent in the legislation. He stated that "HB 197 would require AEP Ohio to purchase all electricity generated by the community solar projects regardless of their price competitiveness." According to him, "AEP Ohio estimates that the potential shifted costs, even with the substitute bill changes, will be substantial and will raise rates for customers. An initial analysis estimates that our non-participating residential customers could see a $5 monthly bill increase should this legislation pass in its current form."

The EnergySage website lists several incentives for using solar energy, including Solar Renewable Energy Certificates (SREC), state-sponsored interest rate reductions, net metering, and the federal solar tax credit. According to EnergySage, "Ohio solar incentives make going solar easy."