According to Ohio Senate Bill 221, Ohio’s electricity law, by 2014 at least 2.5% of electricity sold in the state must be generated from alternative energy resources. At least half of this energy must come from renewable energy sources including wind, solar, biomass, hydro and fuel cell. Utility companies may use renewable energy credits (RECs) to satisfy all or part of the renewable energy benchmarks.
FirstEnergy plans on converting two coal generating units at the company’s R.E. Burgerr facility in Cincinnati to biomass. The Burger plant has been under orders to produce energy with fewer emissions. The company determined the cheapest way to do this is to convert to biomass. The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) recently approved renewable energy certification of the R.E. Burger proposal as a ‘renewable energy’ project. As a result, the Burger facility will be one of the largest biomass plants in the world and would satisfy all of FirstEnergy’s renewable energy requirements. This means they would not have to undertake any additional renewable energy projects to satisfy Ohio Senate Bill 221.
Due to a special provision known as the Burger Amendment, energy generated at the Burger plant is eligible for a higher REC rate. This allows FirstEnergy to earn a disproportionate share of RECs. RECs from the Burger plant will be valued at more than RECs generated by wind, solar, or any other form of renewable energy. FirstEnergy will be able to sell any excess energy generated as RECs to allow other electric companies to meet their own renewable standards. The decision also hands FirstEnergy, the state’s largest utility, a windfall profit on renewable energy credits. This could eliminate investment in other technologies.
According to Ohio law, utilities must show that their biomass fuel will be available on a renewable basis before receiving renewable certification. FirstEnergy has not yet provided any information about the source of its biomass material, what type of fuel they will use, how they will obtain that fuel, or if the fuel will be renewable. It is also unclear whether conversion to biomass fuel will eliminate the pollution problems of coal generation.
The Ohio Environmental Council and the Ohio Consumer’s Counsel have asked PUCO to reject FirstEnergy’s application until the company provides more information about the projet.
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