The OEC is committed to improving energy efficiency in the State Of Ohio. Energy efficiency is the most cost-effective way to reduce the pollution and environmental impact associated with utility electricity production. Efficiency is about conservation, and conservation is about individual choices.

Every Ohioan can reduce pollution by using energy wisely. Energy efficiency not only saves money, but reduces the environmental damage and health effects of power plants. The cleanest kilowatt-hour is the one unused.

As the enormous costs associated with conventional energy production become increasingly obvious, efficiency and renewable energy sources are becoming increasingly competitive. An easy way for consumers to conserve energy is by looking for the EPA Energy Star (external link) logo on energy efficient products.

According to EPA’s Energy Star Program,
if every household in the U.S. replaced
one light bulb with an ENERGY STAR qualified compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL), it would prevent enough pollution to equal removing one million cars from the road!

Please click here (external link) for more information about Ohio energy efficiency programs and resources.

The Ohio Environmental Council championed an innovative low-interest energy efficiency loan fund as part of a state law to deregulate Ohio’s electric utilities. The Ohio Energy Loan Fund enables below market-rate loans to residential, commercial, industrial, agricultural, educational, and non-profit customers to implement energy efficiency and renewable energy projects including solar, wind, and solar thermal systems. The loan fund was established in 1999 under the electric restructuring legislation (Am. Sub. Senate Bill 3, 123rd G.A.) and is administered by the Ohio Office of Energy Efficiency. (external link)

The Ohio Environmental Council has fully endorsed an alternative energy standard for Ohio in our recommendations to the Alternative Energy Standard Collaborative Group. Alternative energy standards are legally binding statewide mandates for electric utilities, requiring them to produce or purchase a certain percentage of the power they sell from clean, renewable, or alternative sources.

These standards are powerful tools - they spur technological development, green power business, competition among utilities and improvement in environmental conditions. Real progress in the air, on the land, and in the water is the result of a well thought-out and implemented renewable protfolio or alternative energy standard.

An important component of any AES system adopted in Ohio will be energy efficiency. Improving the production capacity of fuel and lessening demand by increasing conservation is an important, if not the most important tool citizens have to address the consequences of fossil fuel energy use, and lessen the impact to health and the environment.

Read how the OEC is increasing pressure on the Ohio General Assembly to invest in energy efficiency and develop renewable energy. Click here. (PDF)