Columbus, OH – In a new policy report, Better Energy Policy for Ohio, The Buckeye Institute, in partnership with Americans for Prosperity-Ohio, outlines the challenges facing Ohio as the need and demand for energy grows and offers basic principles lawmakers should use as a guide to develop better energy policies for the Buckeye State. 

“Government regulations and taxpayer-funded subsidies have rewarded inefficiencies, hampered competition, and increased the price of the energy,” said Rea S. Hederman, vice president of policy and executive director of the Economic Research Center at The Buckeye Institute. “Ohioans deserve a better, smarter, more principled energy policy that reduces bureaucratic red tape and helps ensure a healthy supply of affordable, reliable energy. Policymakers must act now to prevent a severe crisis in the not-too-distant future.”

Noting that government regulations have made reliable energy more expensive to generate and jeopardize our region’s power grid, The Buckeye Institute urged Ohio lawmakers to adopt six principles to guide energy policy reforms. 

• End Taxpayer-Funded Government Subsidies: This corporate welfare makes energy more expensive and less reliable by stifling innovation and competition. 
• Focus on Energy Reliability and Affordability: Policies must ensure that Ohio’s power grid meets growing energy demand and remains operational during inclement weather and peak surges.
• Permitting Process Needs to be Faster and More Efficient: Ohio policymakers should encourage federal reforms and pursue state policies that streamline rules and make permitting for energy infrastructure easier and more efficient. 
• Environmental Policies Should Promote Well-Being: Businesses and families should be encouraged to adopt policies that keep their communities and outdoor areas clean voluntarily. Ohioans should not be coerced to buy certain—at times more expensive—products in the name of energy efficiency. 
• Abundant Energy is Needed for Prosperity: Policymakers should pursue energy and environmental policies that keep energy affordable and readily available. 
• Promote Transparency and Competition: Energy companies should be transparent about their environmental impacts and needs for new energy projects, and energy regulators should encourage competition by not favoring certain companies or energy types.

“This partnership between Ohio’s leading free-market grassroots organization, AFP-Ohio, and the state’s foremost free-market think tank, The Buckeye Institute, sets the stage for a transformative approach to energy policy in Ohio,” said Donovan O'Neil, AFP-Ohio state director. “The six principles outlined in this report provide a clear roadmap for the 136th General Assembly to pursue policies rooted in reliability, affordability, abundance, and transparency. We are confident this marks the beginning of the end for cronyist energy policymaking and the dawn of a consumer-centered energy future for all Ohioans.”

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 Buckeye Institute, co-authored Better Energy Policy for Ohio. The report was written in partnership with Americans for Prosperity-Ohio.

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