The debate over Ohio's renewable energy and energy efficiency laws continued this week as the Senate Public Utilities Committee heard more testimony regarding Sub. S.B. 58 – Sen. Bill Seitz's (R-Cincinnati) proposal to revise the state's energy mandates, according to the Gongwer Ohio Report. Seitz said these provisions would "make it easier for electric companies to comply with the state's renewable and energy efficiency standards."

Seitz, who chairs the committee, proposes to "remove a requirement for utilities to buy half of their renewable power from Ohio suppliers, broaden activities that count toward energy management for large commercial and industrial power users and cap how much utilities can spend on energy-saving programs," Cincinnati Enquirer reports. Last week, several witnesses testified in opposition to Sub S.B. 58.

Among the witnesses who testified this week was Ohio Consumers' Counsel Bruce Weston, who said the proposed revisions would make the state's energy efficiency standards "more costly for ratepayers and more profitable for Ohio utilities." Weston pointed to language in the bill regarding "shared savings incentives," which he said would make consumers forgo more than half the net benefits of energy efficiency programs by requiring them to pay both 33.3 percent of that savings to utilities and requiring them to pay the taxes for the utilities' profit.

In addition to testimony on behalf of Sub. S.B. 58, Sen. Kris Jordan (R-Powell) sponsored testimony for Senate Bill 34, which aims to repeal Ohio’s alternative energy portfolio standard.

Below is a list of the submitted testimonies: