Advanced Energy Perspectives

In September, AEE’s Ohio team met with Secretary of State and Republican nominee for lieutenant governor Jon Husted and Michael Hall, policy director for Republican gubernatorial nominee Mike DeWine, as a part of a series of conversations with the gubernatorial campaigns aimed at raising awareness about the economic benefits associated with the advanced energy industry. Ohio AEE met with candidate DeWine himself in March.

In September, AEE Members and our Ohio team met with Richard Cordray, Democratic gubernatorial candidate, to build support for policies that accelerate the adoption of advanced energy resources and growing the number of good paying jobs in Ohio. The business representatives discussed policy mechanisms and regulatory initiatives that a Cordray administration could utilize to ensure that Ohioans reap the economic benefits and cost savings of advanced energy technologies. Although the advanced energy sector employs 112,000 Ohioans, much more can be done to capture the rapid growth of the industry.

On March 8, Ohio Advanced Energy Economy (Ohio AEE) sat down with Joe Schiavoni (D-Youngstown), state Senator and former Minority Leader, as we continued our series of meetings with gubernatorial candidates about the economic benefits and significant job growth of advanced energy technologies. This was Ohio AEE’s third in the series, including earlier meetings with Democrat candidate Richard Cordray, former head of the U.S. Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, and Republican Mike DeWine, the state’s Attorney General.

As a legislator, Sen. Schiavoni has been a strong advocate for the advanced energy industry, organizing his caucus to vote against legislation that would weaken the state’s renewable and efficiency goals (RPS and EERS).

On March 8, Ohio Advanced Energy Economy (Ohio AEE) continued its series of meetings with Ohio gubernatorial hopefuls by sitting down with Attorney General Mike DeWine, the former U.S. Senator, and Republican frontrunner for governor.

In our meeting with Attorney General DeWine, a group of 10 companies with representatives from First Solar, Apex Clean Energy, Tradewind Energy, Schneider Electric, and Open Road Renewables among them, discussed the job creation potential associated with advanced energy. In addition, significant cost declines for renewable energy over the last decade (60% for solar and 80% for wind technology), improvement in grid reliability, and economic development that supports local schools in rural areas were key benefits that resonated with DeWine.

On March 6, Ohio Advanced Energy Economy (Ohio AEE) hosted an engaging roundtable chat with Ohio gubernatorial candidate Richard Cordray, the former Ohio Attorney General who most recently served as director of the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. As one participant put it, in this case, the picture does not do justice to the level of interest and engagement by Cordray as he sought to learn more about advanced energy technologies and companies and their impact on the state. He asked a lot of questions and conveyed genuine commitment to and support for expanding clean energy because it’s the right thing to do, it represents the future for Ohioans and we need to embrace it. 

The roundtable was the first in a series of meetings with the leading candidates for governor being organized by Ohio AEE. Through these roundtables, we hope to learn more about each candidate's vision for the state, and we hope they will learn more about the advanced energy industry that’s growing in Ohio.