Business roundtable and utilities urge faster permitting and more generation; stakeholders clash over HB15 tax approach and OVEC rider

The Ohio House Energy Committee received competing advice on how to accelerate new power production and protect reliability while considering tax and regulatory changes in House Bill 15.

Alexandra Denney, invited by the committee to present the Ohio Business Roundtablea CEO-led groupoutlined the roundtable's Energy Competitiveness Study and urged state action to shorten permitting, clarify behind-the-meter frameworks, reduce regulatory lag and study grid-enhancing technologies. "On average 366 days for an application to get through the Ohio Power Siting Board process," Denney told the committee; the roundtable recommends a 90-day shot clock and even faster timelines for designated priority investment areas.

Denney described six state-focused recommendations from the study: a 90-day siting and permitting shot clock for ordinary applications and a 45-day clock for designated priority investment areas; creation of an Office of Energy Resilience focused on economic development and coordinating timelines across state offices; priority investment area incentives including a five-year tax exemption for new generation in brownfields and accelerated…