DevelopOhio

The Columbus Dispatch and Business First reported that Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine has certified a petition, submitted by Yes for Ohio’s Energy Future, to place on the ballot an amendment to the Ohio Constitution for the "Ohio Clean Energy Initiative".  (The petition summary is available here).  This initiative would allow the state to issue $13 billion in bonds over a 10-year period starting in 2013 to fund energy infrastructure improvements and research and development of green technologies such as solar, wind, and geothermal energy.
 
This initiative is occurring as Sen. Kris Jordan (R-Powell) has introduced the repeal bill (SB 216), which would repeal Ohio's renewable portfolio standard ("RPS").  Ohio's RPS currently requires the state's utility companies to procure 25 percent of their energy from renewable and advanced energy sources by 2025 and was enacted with broad bipartisan support as part of SB 221 in 2008. 
 
Of the $1.3 million in bonds issued each year, the amendment would commit $65 million a year of the bond revenue to run the Ohio Energy Initiative Commission.  Project funding decisions would also be made by this Commission.  The petition now goes to the Ohio Ballot Board, which will decide whether the amendment to the Ohio Constitution requires multiple ballot issues, according to a press release.  If the proposal clears that hurdle, supporters could begin gathering the 385,253 valid signatures of registered Ohio voters needed to place the amendment on the Nov. 6 general election ballot.