The Ohio Independent Power Producers develop, construct, and operate new natural gas fired power plants, representing billions of dollars of new private investment in Ohio and thousands of megawatts of new, efficient, and reliable energy. These projects are entirely driven by private investment, not ratepayer guarantees, with project risk on the investors, not captive ratepayers.
Ohio is a great place to develop and operate new generating resources. Ohio agencies, such as the Ohio Power Siting Board, are strict, but fair. Local government support and organized labor support for these projects is strong. Abundant low cost natural gas, strong supporting infrastructure, and location in the middle of the world’s largest wholesale electricity market, the PJM Interconnection, makes Ohio uniquely positioned to attract and benefit from this enormous investment.
Ohio’s commitment to creating a deregulated environment in which power is competitively priced on the open market was firmly established in Senate Bill 3 in 1999. The willingness of investors to commit billions of dollars in direct investment to build new power generation facilities in Ohio is predicated on their long-term confidence in the PJM Interconnection regional wholesale electricity markets and Ohio’s commitment to competitive markets. Subsidizing uneconomic generation—whether through a nonbypassable rider or market “re-regulation” or subsidy credits to specific generators—distorts market signals that investors rely upon.
Ohio’s policymakers, including the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio and Ohio General Assembly must protect the level playing field created by deregulation and allow the open, competitive market to operate as it was intended – providing cheap, efficient, and reliable power for Ohioans.
Clean, reliable Ohio energy.