Columbus, OH – In its newest policy brief, Renewables Mandate: A Drag on Ohio’s Economy, the Economic Research Center at The Buckeye Institute looks at the impact Ohio’s renewable portfolio standards (RPS) have on Ohio’s families and businesses. The mandates are part of the debate on House Bill 6, which creates a taxpayer funded subsidy to prop-up declining businesses—namely the Davis-Besse and Perry nuclear power plants.

“The Buckeye Institute discourages policies that transfer wealth from Ohio households to special interests, whether as subsidies paid with tax dollars, or regulations that create higher prices for necessities, such as electricity,” said Tyler Shankel, economic policy analyst with the Economic Research Center at The Buckeye Institute and author of the brief. “The RPS mandate raises electricity prices across the state and dampens Ohio’s economic growth. Effectively repealing those mandates by making them optional will make Ohio more affordable for residents and businesses.”

In the brief, Shankel highlights why the RPS is unnecessary and harmful to Ohio’s economy:

• The costs of Ohio’s RPS mandate are ultimately borne by Ohio consumers, which makes the cost of living and doing business in Ohio more expensive;
• According to Buckeye’s research in The Impact of Renewables Portfolio Standards on the Ohio Economy, the additional costs of RPS mandates could result in 34,200 fewer jobs and a lower state GDP; and
• While new unsubsidized wind and solar projects are already cost-competitive with new fossil fuel plants, according to Lazard’s Levelized Cost of Energy analysis, new costs are created by replacing existing fossil fuel-sourced energy with renewables.

Renewables Mandate: A Drag on Ohio’s Economy was authored by Tyler Shankel, an economic policy analyst with the Economic Research Center at The Buckeye Institute.

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