Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), who chairs a U.S. House energy and water subcommittee, says that Ohio’s new energy bill is a step in the wrong direction.
On Tuesday, Gov. Mike DeWine signed into law a $1 billion bailout to help FirstEnergy Solutions continue to operate two nuclear plants in Ohio. The legislation would also weaken Ohio’s renewable energy requirements and eliminate energy efficiency programs.
Kaptur, who’s from Toledo and represents the area around the Davis-Besse nuclear plant, says she’s not against helping the nuclear plants. But she said their unprofitability is a national problem facing 25% of the nation’s nuclear facilities and should have been dealt with at the federal level by the current administration.
Kaptur said Ohio is now saddled with an energy policy that amounts to a “death wish” for growth.
“The problem is that as you look at a region to invest in, we look less innovative. We look less inclusive. We look less creative," Kaptur said. "And companies are looking to invest in places that have their act together and are looking at energy and the full portfolio of choices therein as we build a new energy future for our country.”
Kaptur called the new legislation a band-aid that fails to properly support emerging energy industries, especially wind, which she says is the fastest growing segment of the energy market.
