The battle is heating up over what Ohio utility companies can use as renewable biomass fuel to stoke their power plants.
We reported two weeks ago that the Ohio Environmental Council filed an appeal with the state Supreme Court in November (“Dead Wood,” January 19, 2011). It’s their attempt to overturn a renewable-energy certification granted by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio to FirstEnergy’s R.E. Burger power plant in rural Shadyside.
At issue is the environmental group’s interest in having the PUCO determine whether a particular biomass material is actually renewable and sustainable before issuing lifetime certifications for it. FirstEnergy, on the other hand, would prefer that it doesn’t.
