A study released Monday by the Ohio Chamber of Commerce Research Foundation concluded the state annually misses out on $440 million of investments in potential energy projects—and 5,400 jobs—because of regulatory bottlenecks.
“We can do better,” said Demetrius Thomas, executive director of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce Research Foundation. “We’re not the worst. We’re not the best. We’re kind of in the middle, right?”
The Ohio Power Siting Board manages most of the permit process for energy generation and transmission infrastructure across Ohio. Although state law says the Board should review legal conformities within 60 days and make decisions within 150 days, it often drags much longer, averaging 18 months, the study concluded.
Thomas said the state needs “more teeth” with those deadlines. “They say 150 days, but it takes much longer than that to approve a project, so if we can find a way to make sure the deadlines that are set are real deadlines, that can improve the process,” he said in an interview.
Neighboring states, like Kentucky and Michigan, are not as centralized, allowing local authorities to permit some projects, according to study analysis.
House Energy Chair Rep. Adam Holmes (R-Nashport) said Monday that House Bill 15, signed into law by Gov. Mike DeWine in May, should ease some regulatory snags for heavy users, like data centers, because of behind-the-meter generation measures.
“Instead of connecting to the existing grid that connects Ohio to 13 other states, you ‘BYOE’—bring your own energy—and you establish it and build your own generation, and you don’t connect to the rest of the grid,” Holmes said.
The process to get permits for those projects is quicker, but Thomas said it will not be reality across the board.
“Some don’t want to farm out doing something behind the meter,” Thomas said. “They want to be able to lock into the grid that that we do have.”
