Energy policy is impeding affordable electricity options for Ohioans

Thank you for covering how cold winter temperatures are straining the grid and driving up electricity prices (“Regional power grid bracing for record-breaking winter demand‚” Jan. 28.) As cleveland.com’s Anna Staver notes, “Extreme cold doesn’t just strain the power grid; it can also drive up energy prices.”

As Americans struggle with high prices, it is imperative for lawmakers to prioritize inexpensive sources of energy. According to a story in Scientific American magazine last June, the least expensive sources of electricity are now wind and solar.

However, state law in Ohio has made it difficult to develop clean energy. County commissioners have been given the power to kill wind and solar projects, an authority they don’t have over fossil fuel projects.

Federal action this year has eliminated subsidies for the development of wind and solar and has blocked or attempted to block wind projects already near completion. At the same time, fossil fuels are heavily subsidized by the federal government.

None of this is helping to provide Ohioans with affordable energy. Please contact your state and federal legislators and let them know you’d like them to give more support to clean, cheap renewable power.

John Sabin,

Oberlin