Advanced Energy Perspectives

Like anyone in construction, renewable energy developers are all too familiar with process hurdles and delays. But patience wears thin. In the vast PJM Interconnection region stretching from DC to Illinois, a huge pool of solar, wind, and battery storage projects are stuck in the grid operator’s Interconnection queue, often waiting years for technical and cost studies and final approvals needed to connect to the grid. This usually behind-the-scenes issue moved to center stage this month when PJM proposed a dramatic step: a two-year pause on formally accepting new interconnection applications so that the grid operator can focus on speeding up delayed projects and clearing some of the backlog. That pause will come with much needed improvements to PJM’s processes to speed up future interconnection requests. Those improvements won’t solve all the problems with PJM’s interconnection process, but they are a good start, and they can’t come soon enough.

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.