Reclaiming Our Right To Decide Our Energy Future
Ohio is One of Only Five States With Community Choices in Electric Generation
By: Gary “Spruce” Houser
The ways in which humans are currently generating electricity and transporting themselves have become driving forces toward potentially catastrophic climate change. News reports tell us polar ice is melting much faster than predicted. Leading scientists warn we are approaching “tipping points”—situations where human impact may trigger chain reactions in which natural forces may escalate the pace of climate change beyond the reach of human control. An example would be an increasing release of methane—a greenhouse gas 23 times more potent than carbon dioxide—which would accelerate warming and only unleash more methane from its frozen state in the Arctic, causing an effect similar to a runaway train. Drought, food shortages, forced migration of millions, and wars over diminishing resources may plunge humanity into a time of upheaval and social breakdown.
Here in Ohio, we have a special responsibility to begin moving in a different direction. Nearly 90 percent of Ohio’s electricity comes from coal and we have 26 major coal-burning power plants, which collectively translate into a huge annual release of greenhouse gases—fourth largest in the country. Emissions from our power plants are reaching beyond our borders and having a truly planetary impact.
Right now, Ohio needs its elected officials to be leaders in promoting a renewable energy future and stand strong against the immense lobbying power of the fossil fuel industry. Ohio citizens need to take interest in determining the source of energy that powers their state. In this context, some welcome news is presented by a ground-breaking movement in northern California. A pioneering and visionary group based in San Francisco is demonstrating a dramatic breakthrough in how energy use decisions are made. An ordinance has been passed in that city which asserts the right of its citizens to make their own choice as to how their electricity is generated. What is being achieved is nothing less than a true paradigm shift in democratizing the process and removing the power of large electric utilities to dictate such decisions. The legal term for this approach is “community choice aggregation” (CCA).
In simple terms, what is being exercised is not anything more complex than the “power of the purse.” A large “aggregation” of consumers obviously has more “collective bargaining” power than isolated individuals. The residential, business and public/government sectors of San Francisco are “aggregating” their combined purchasing power toward a goal of 51 percent of the city’s electricity being provided by renewable sources and efficiency upgrades within 10 years. The city is on a path to becoming one of the greenest anywhere, with plans to build the largest solar electric system in the world. The CCA concept has caught hold elsewhere in California and is being copied in other cities and counties.
The quite fortunate news in Ohio is that we are one of only five states in the country which currently have the laws allowing local CCAs to be created. There is currently one CCA in Ohio called the Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council (NOPEC). In this case the aggregation concept is being used primarily to obtain the lowest prices. But the path is also clearly open for NOPEC—and any other new CCAs which may form—to incorporate the goal of supporting ethical choices toward clean and renewable sources.
In Athens, Ohio there is an effort underway to create such a CCA. There is interest within all three sectors—the residential, business, and public/government (which includes a 20,000 student university). Research is going forward on how the city of Athens can obtain at least 30 percent of its electricity from clean renewable sources and efficiency upgrades.
It is noteworthy that Ohio Consumer Counsel Janine Migden-Ostrander, whose job it is to advocate on behalf of the public interest in regard to such regulatory issues, has offered her support to the Athens CCA. It appears that the concept of using CCA to support ethical energy choices will have an ally at the state level.
Humanity does not have an infinite amount of time in which to act in regard to the looming consequences of climate change. We must use wisdom to choose strategies which afford the greatest opportunity to break through barriers blocking forward movement. Many are coming to see that at the local level of government, we may have the greatest power to act in the most affirmative way. If electricity corporations continue to make decisions which threaten life on earth, we now have another option here in Ohio. We can take matters into our own hands at the local level and reclaim our right to do what is necessary to protect the planetary ecosystem which sustains us all.
For more information about CCA, visit www.communitychoiceenergy.org, www.local.org and watch an 18 minute video describing the CCA concept and the San Francisco experience at www.eon.blip.tv/file/221921.
For more information, contact Gary “Spruce” Houser at mountainmist8@yahoo.com.
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Gary “Spruce” Houser is a co-founder of the Ohio University Eco-House project and has been an environmental/public interest advocate for many years.