Renewable energy column had incorrect information

The opinion piece submitted by Rea Hederman ("Repeal renewable energy mandates" July 9) was one of the most misleading and biased pieces I have ever seen the Enquirer print.

Mr. Hederman wants us to believe that the average Ohioan lost $3,842 in 2013 because of the renewable standards that required just 2.5 percent of Ohio's energy to come from renewable sources. Even the most cursory analysis of this claim shows it to be laughably false. Duke Energy currently has the Alternative Energy Recovery Rider which allows them to recover every cent they spend on buying renewable energy credits. This charge is currently $0.000196 per kilowatt-hour.

To lose $3,842 at that rate would require the average Ohioan to use 19.6 million kilowatt-hours per year, yet Ohio uses just 4,652 kilowatt-hour per capita, according to the Department of Energy.

Furthermore, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio has determined that the competition created by encouraging development of renewable sources of energy has suppressed wholesale energy prices by 0.15 percent to 0.51 percent (Ohio Public Utilities Commission: "Renewable Resources and Wholesale Price Suppression, August 2013).

That puts the price suppression effect at or even above the cost of purchasing renewable energy credits. In other words, there is no cost to the standards.

This is one reason why the Ohio Manufacturer's Association has very publicly come out in favor of the renewable standards and the energy efficiency standards.

Mr. Hederman has made the classic error of assuming a correlation must equal causation. His entire analysis is extremely flawed, and publishing it did an extreme disservice to your readers.

Robert Webbink, Sharonville