INTERVIEW: CCSA Director explains next steps in clearing Ohio House Bill 197

Several factors played a role in Ohio House Bill (HB) 197 being pulled from its eighth scheduled hearing with the House Public Utilities Committee last month.

The primary reason was the inability to clearly guarantee a majority of affirmative votes from the Republican caucus, which was strategically needed to avoid the current discourse inside the split caucus, said Carlo Cavallaro, Coalition for Community Solar Access (CCSA) Midwest Regional Director, in an interview with NPM.

“While there is widespread support for HB.197, Chairman (Dick) Stein and Sponsors Rep. (Sharon) Ray and Rep. (James) Hoops have been strategically looking ahead and delay was the best option,” Cavallaro said.

Calls made to Stein, Ray, and Hoops were not returned in time for the story.

“The sponsors and coalition will be working over the summer to secure and verify the votes needed from both caucuses on the committee with the hope that a committee vote can occur this fall,” Cavallaro said.

HB.197 proposes a community solar pilot program that certifies 250 MW of community solar facilities annually until 1,000 MW is reached. An additional 500 MW of capacity would be reserved for distressed sites or commercial or public sector rooftops within an electric distribution utility’s certified territory.

The bill also proposes consumer protections for subscribers to community solar facilities be put in place to ensure that any costs associated with the program be recovered from customer classes participating in in the program, to ensure no cross-subsidization of costs between customer classes.

A companion bill, Senate Bill (SB) 247, was introduced by Republican Senator George Lang, D-4 in April. The bill mirrors the House version. The bill has been assigned to the Energy and Public Utilities Committee and had its first hearing on June 11.

Developers such as Rabago Energy, CleanCapital, Dimension Renewable Energy, Lightstar Renewables, Cypress Creek Renewables, Nautilus Solar, ENGIE, Nexamp, submitted proponent testimony at prior hearings.

The Ohio General Assembly meets during a two-year period or biennium divided into two annual regular sessions. Bills introduced in the first session year are carried over to the second year. Bills not enacted by the end of the second session die and are not carried over to the next biennium. The current 135th General Assembly biennium is scheduled to adjourn on December 31, 2024.

*This story was originally published exclusively for NPM subscribers last month.

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