COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio’s targets for the use ofalternative energy by big utilities will
remain in place for now, under alegislative compromise brought on by objections from the
state’sburgeoning wind industry, among others.Senate Public UtilitiesChairman Bill Seitz, a Cincinnati
Republican, told The Associated Presson Monday he has made several changes to sweeping utility
legislationthat originally proposed scrapping Ohio’s alternative energy mandates atthe end of this
year.Seitz said a compromise bill is expectedTuesday and he’s "reasonably optimistic"
committee approval will comeafter Thanksgiving.Seitz said the revised bill will keep Ohio’srenewables
rules in place through December 2018, at which pointthresholds for renewable energy purchased in-state
would be lifted so"people can get it wherever it’s cheapest so long as it’s deliverable"to the
power grid that covers Ohio.Other revisions made to securepivotal committee votes include eliminating
Canadian hydropower as aneligible alternative, capping benefits returned to utilities from
energyefficiency and allowing the use of hydropower produced at a locationalong the Ohio River, Seitz
said. The bill’s new version also would nowmake energy from anaerobic digesters and methane gas
convertersacceptable in meeting alternative targets.Seitz’s bill revisited a2008 Ohio law under which
utilities were required to produce 12.5percent of their energy from renewable sources, such as wind,
solar andhydropower, by 2025. Another 12.5 percent must come from so-called"advanced energy,"
such as clean coal or a state-of-the-art nuclearreactor, in what’s been called the "25 by ’25"
standard.Seitzsaid he believes Ohio’s in-state renewables mandates risk being declaredunconstitutional,
as similar rules have been elsewhere in the U.S. Theamended bill would default to allowing all sources
of energy deliverableto the PJM grid if that were to happen, he said.Opponents duringmonths of hearings
have argued such mandates fatten electric bills in astate whose rates are already higher than some
neighbors. Some alsoquestion climate change and those who use it to push for reduced use ofcoal-fired
power plants.Supporters of the thresholds, in place indozens of states, say they help the environment by
beginning to replaceuse of coal-fired technology while spurring economic investments andnew high-paying
jobs in science and technology.Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rightsreserved. This material
may not be published, broadcast, rewritten orredistributed.