Ohio Energy Grant Money Runs Out

COLUMBUS, Ohio — An increase in demand for grants to fund solar panels and advanced energy projects in Ohio, along with a shortage of funding, has prompted the state to stop taking requests and left many applicants without thousands of dollars they hoped or expected to get.

The Department of Development stopped taking grant requests for the Advanced Energy Fund in November as money ran out, The Columbus Dispatch reported Sunday. The program awarded $15.6 million in grants for 161 solar-panel and wind-turbine projects from July to November, according to records.

More than 200 homeowners and businesses filed grant requests before the cutoff, only to find out they wouldn't get funds from the program this year, according to the newspaper.

A 9-cent fee on most residents' monthly electricity bills paid for the grants, but the fee expired last year and was not reauthorized. The Legislature enacted the fee in 1999, beginning the program with low-interest loans offered to homeowners and businesses. It became a grant program in mid-2006. Since then, it has paid out more than $49 million.

State Rep. Mike Foley, A Democrat from Cleveland, sponsored a bill to extend the fee, but the bill died in the Legislature. He plans to reintroduce it.

It's clear the cutoff has upset people, but the state doesn't have the money to fund the grants, said Chad Smith, interim energy resources director for the Department of Development.

"The (grants) were structured on a first-come, first served basis," Smith said. "From July to November, we did more projects than we ever did in any fiscal year."

The 200-plus applications submitted last year sought nearly $21 million, compared with just $2 million provided for 67 projects five years ago.

Demand may have increased in part because projects have become more financially feasible, especially with the help of state grants and federal tax credits. The cost of solar paneling has decreased significantly over the past few years, said Geoff Greenfield, who co-owns Third Sun Solar in Athens, which installs alternative-energy systems.

Chris Whitemyer of Wooster decided he'd install solar panels on his home after a salesman showed him the state grant would slash the cost from $47,000 to about $8,000. He expected to get nearly $25,000 in grant money, but instead got a letter saying the money had run out.

Though there's a federal tax credit available to cover the other $14,000 or so, he said he's postponing his project.

___

Information from: The Columbus Dispatch, http://www.dispatch.com

Comments

[Spock]

08:34 PM on 02/24/2011

Solar panels should be on every roof in the country. Maybe profits the oil companies are going to make when the price of gas hits $5 a gallon should go to fund solar panel development and installation and not on drilling.

[Genders]

11:20 PM on 03/28/2011

Absolutely ff. rooftop pv on every roof would supply all the electricity the country uses.

[JCampbell]

12:23 AM on 02/24/2011

Being dependent on taxpayer subsidizes has been the problem all along.

[Genders]

11:21 PM on 03/28/2011

Really, you mean like fossil and nukes are???? grow up.

[guinganbresil]

09:12 AM on 02/23/2011

"A 9-cent fee on most residents' monthly electricity bills paid for the grants"

I assume this was only for those with the solar panels? No...? That means the solar panels are a vehicle for moving money (9-cents at a time) from those with solar panels to those without.

I am sure this 9-cent fee was optional... No? Then it was theft.

[Genders]

11:22 PM on 03/28/2011

You mean like taxes are theft? You mean like the billions in fossil and nukes breaks and subsidies are theft? Grow up.

[mlaiuppa]

10:56 PM on 02/22/2011

I put my PV in three years ago. Got both my state and federal rebates. My electricity bill is 0 at the end of the year. ($5 a month to "rent" the meter).

Best investment I ever made. No matter how high the cost of electricity goes, I only pay to rent the meter.

If the state ever forces my utility company to pay for the excess power produced, I'll add some more panels so I'm always over producing. As is, I see no reason to spend the money to give it to them for free.

[Richard2]

10:48 PM on 02/22/2011

The great green con that'll cost you £300 a year

By Lauren Thompson

Last updated at 12:37 AM on 23rd February 2011
Every home in Britain could be paying £300 a year through their gas and electricity bills by 2020 to fund climate change schemes.

The Government has set energy suppliers stiff targets to make their customers more 'green'.
More...Reduce your energy bills {thisismoney.co.uk}

Not surprisingly, suppliers pass on the cost to their customers, but most people don't even realise they're paying for it because the charges do not appear on bills.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/article-1359687/The-great-green-thatll-cost-300-year.html#ixzz1EkYtWLdY

[Genders]

11:23 PM on 03/28/2011

Wrong, in sonny american rooftop pv solar is 1/3 the cost of the grid electricity. Home Solar Cheaper Than Every Concentrating Solar Power Plant
http://energyselfreliantstates.org/content/home-solar-cheaper-every-concentrating-solar-power-plant#comment-8

[Joe Friday]

08:25 PM on 02/22/2011

Another CLASSIC example of the failure of Government incentive entrapment to sell alternative energy before it's time. As the technology becomes more effective and price competitive, it will happen. BAD experiences like this sets back the trust and faith people have in any Government subsidized project. The Government woos you and than screws you!

[moldndecay]

08:38 PM on 02/22/2011

Yeah, that's never happened with any corporation or business.

[Joe Friday]

09:06 PM on 02/22/2011

mold .... Maybe, I just can't remember any good examples at the State or National level!

[roseau]

10:37 PM on 02/23/2011

Yes. And gasoline at $4 a gallon is effective and price competitive. Not the product of collusion, creating the most profitable corporations ever known to man. Alternative energy is such a total scam, and petroleum is just good, honest, free-markets at work.

[Joe Friday]

10:52 PM on 02/23/2011

roseyo... You are more correct that you wanted to be.
Is there a more efficient fuel?
Can you think of something in your life that dosen't have a relationship to oil?
Are Libs the cause of the lack of a effective energy policy in America?
Interesting!

[ddpalmerr]

04:37 PM on 02/22/2011

From the Columbus Dispatch; "The 204 grant applications filed in 2010 asked for $20.8million from the state."

$20.8 million in requests for one year, divide by 12 months and then divide by $0.09 per electric bill and you get roughly 19.2 million. So to sustain the program would require 19.2 seperate electric bills in the state of Ohio, a state with a population of only 11.5 million people.

The program was headed off a cliff as it was.

[mlaiuppa]

10:58 PM on 02/22/2011

There is something wrong with that math.

[ddpalmerr]

05:31 AM on 02/23/2011

Well then why don't you show what is wrong rather than make baseless accusations?

There was $0.09 added each month to each Ohio electric bill. There were requests totaling $20.8 million, so that means 20.8 million divide by 12 will give you how many dollars need to be collected each month. Then you divide that monthly number by 0.09 to get how many bills need to have that $0.09 to collect the needed amount.

Now lets hear your explanation of what is wrong with that math.

[Genders]

11:26 PM on 03/28/2011

30-40 years of electricity from rooftop pv solar, did you miss that?

[ddpalmerr]

04:09 PM on 02/22/2011

The article in Sunday's Columbus paper gives some interesting numbers.

At $8000 Mr. Whitemyer could have expected to break even after 8 years. SO without the incentives (money taken from other people) his solar panels would have broken even after just 47 years.

Of course the panels don't last 47 years so in other words without incentives solar panels are a net lose. No wonder people stopped installing panels when the incentive went away, it makes no fiscal sense to install the panels unless you can get someone else to pay most of the cost.

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2011/02/20/copy/state-grants-for-solar-panels-are-tapped-out.html

[roseau]

10:40 PM on 02/23/2011

Now that's true. The best thing to do is to advance conservation. It's nuts to subsidize panels on homes that have leaky windows, little insulation, aged systems. Where I live there are giant arrays on expensive, big, old homes that could be made to consume less energy and should have to before they receive solar subsidy.

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

02:51 PM on 02/22/2011

More evidence the market incentives and technology are not there to support green energy initiatives. Without taxpayer subsidy, the effort dries up. Fact is, the taxpayers cannot afford this anymore. Electric rates have not decreased as a result of this program.

[militaryvet84]

04:22 AM on 02/24/2011

Don't forget the subsidies they give if you buy one of those fancy new cars. It must be nice to use other peoples money to buy your own stuff!

[solarguy1]

01:52 PM on 02/22/2011

Incentives are heroin. This is why they don't work.

If the public funds used to finance the purchase of equipment were directed towards a premium Feed in Tarrif payment to the independant producer, then investors would support the equipment purchase and the stream of payments for power fed back into the grid would recoup the cost of equipment and create wealth for the individual.

The effect would be to put more photovoltaics in service and empower the small investor with a reliable cash cow for a good long time. If you could count on a guarrented 12% Return on your Investment (ROI) for thirty years would you make it part of your retirment porfolio? I envision a teacher, a firman, a doctor and cashier making a group and taking title to say 100 kW of PV through their finacial planners then selling the power back to the Power Authority. That's the capitalist way, Small Business turning a profit.

Underwriting the purchase of equipment for installation on residential properties just uses up the funds quickly and ineffectively.

Tell your local Power Authority, State Representatives & Federal Representatives to give investors a Feed in Tarrif.

Empower yourself. Empower the Market.

Make your Home more Efficent First. Reduce the stream of payments out of your pocket before you buy exotic toys and silver bullets. Most American Homes can be treated with Deep Energy Retrofits for substanially less realizing 15% to 75% reductions in energy costs.

e'nuff said.

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

02:53 PM on 02/22/2011

Tariffs have no guarantee of surviving changing political climates. Therefore, there would be no guarantee of that 12% return over 30 years.

[alvdh1]

01:49 PM on 02/22/2011

Ohio, from the rust belt to rust on the brain. Another indication that 9 cents on the monthly utility bill at no cost to the state is just to much for the in-the-pocket of the corporations Republicans to tolerate when the state electric utilities are issuing marching orders to their sychophants running state government. They tip toed into the 21st century, voted in the Republicans, and did an about face back into the 19th century.

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

02:54 PM on 02/22/2011

No cost to the state? Do you have any idea how much the state pays in electric bills?

[alvdh1]

03:08 PM on 02/22/2011

Wow!!!!! I am sorry for that error. I mean, I should have added that the sales and earnings taxes from the solar panel sales and installations more than offset the 9 cents per month per bill. The 9 cents per month isn't adjusted for the amount of power used in any given month. But thanks for pointing out my error in judgement so that I could clarify things for you. Perhaps you should rail against the new governnor for leaving the lights on when he is out to lunch - which is more often than not if you know what I mean.

[sheila]

12:05 PM on 02/22/2011

hmmmm. curious that the Big Solar money flowing to Chevron, BP and Goldman Sachs, as well as our taxpayer owned land and water resources is not slowing down one bit. think that is a coincidence?

Rooftop solar is the ONLY chance we have had in decades to finally have some type of security in our financial and energy future. the stock market is totally rigged against us, real estate and other bank-centered investments are being manipulated by Big Banks, as are energy futures, while Big Energy is manipulating pricing and supplies of energy to squeeze us further.

meanwhile, GERMANY installs far more rooftop solar every year than the cumulative total in the US, because they PAY REGULAR PEOPLE for producing clean energy without killing wilderness, wasting money, requiring new SF6-spewing transmission, or destabilizing the grid.

when will our elected officials start working for US instead of Big Banks and Big Energy? we need PACE loans and feed in tariffs NOW!

[alvdh1]

01:54 PM on 02/22/2011

You tell them Sheila. The latest big energy scam has been to price gasoline off of North Sea Brent Crude - which has been selling at a $14 - $17 per barrel premium over West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Crude for the last several weeks until today. When the price of WTI oil declined to $85 a week ago this past Monday, gas prices didn't budge. There was a little blip on CNBC about this a couple of weeks ago, but nothing else in MSM.

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

02:57 PM on 02/22/2011

"Rooftop solar is the ONLY chance we have had in decades to finally have some type of security in our financial and energy future"

No, it isn't. Take this winter's snowstorms. Existing buildings were not designed to handle the wind and snow load that accompany Rooftop Solar. Couple that with drifting and an inability to remove snow if we have a severe winter and the risks are too high. THen, to make matters worse, who pays for the equipment to be removed and re-installed when the roof needs to be replaced? I get solicited for these programs all the time because I handle about 1 Million s.f. of commercial RE and the answer is always the same... pay to increase the structural loads and to replace the roof and to install the panels and you can have my roof. Click, is usually the next sound.

[sheila]

08:08 PM on 02/22/2011

you are mistaken, since any structure built to code (i.e. that you can walk on) can handle the weight of panels, and in snowy places, not only will snow slide off the angled black glass faster than it will off the roof, but you can use heating elements to speed melting.

if you have an older or crappy roof, of course you should replace it before you install solar, and plenty of roofing materials will last the lifetime of system (30-40 years). even if you need to replace 15 or 20 years in, if you have used the proper type of mounting materials, you just re-roof around them like plumbing.

then, not only do you have 2 capital improvements that immediately improve the value of the structure, but they also add to your basis, which means lower capital gains when you sell.

that said, just because not every single site is perfect for rooftop solar, that doesn't mean that many, many sites aren't ideal - they are - and all of those should be used before wilderness areas are even considered...

[Kenz300]

11:20 AM on 02/22/2011

The cost of oil and coal keeps going up.

The cost of wind and solar keeps decreasing each year with new technology
and increases in production facilities creating economies of scale.

Wind, solar, wave energy, geothermal and second generation biofuels are the future.

Do you really want to depend on importing oil from the middle east?

[moldndecay]

08:41 PM on 02/22/2011

Every home and buiding in the country should have geothermal. Its a no brainer.

[militaryvet84]

04:27 AM on 02/24/2011

And who is going to pay for that?

[militaryvet84]

04:28 AM on 02/24/2011

It keeps going up because our government won't let us produce more at home… no more off shore, no more from Alaska, no from shale or coal! And republicans are the party of no! ha!

[24fans]

11:05 AM on 02/22/2011

Maybe government should stop taking hard earned tax money and giving it to oil companies? Just asking for a little consitancy.

[24fans]

01:01 PM on 02/22/2011

That would be consistency.

[militaryvet84]

04:30 AM on 02/24/2011

I agree, but if they stop that they better stop giving it to solar, wind and every other energy group!

[Gebby]

10:59 AM on 02/22/2011

with democrats the money would be there. they understand sound government policy and investment in the future. wow!

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

02:58 PM on 02/22/2011

Where would they get the money?

[IMOPINIONH8D]

10:03 PM on 02/22/2011

Added .09 per electric bill?

[militaryvet84]

04:32 AM on 02/24/2011

All those darned rich folk, who horde their money and steal candy from babies! LOL, but I guess sound government for democrats is a nice lofty 80% tax rate, so that would about cover it!