A $100M Ohio energy fund lacks transparency — and excludes renewables

Ohio has set up a $100 million fund, called the JobsOhio Energy Opportunity Initiative, to help pay for new energy projects in the state. But the money is only available for natural gas infrastructure and small modular nuclear reactors — solar and wind projects can't apply. Governor Mike DeWine has defended the choice by arguing gas and nuclear offer steadier power, even though solar and wind are generally faster and cheaper to build.

The fund is run by JobsOhio, a private economic-development group that is exempt from Ohio's public records law. That means the public can't see which companies have applied or how much they might receive. JobsOhio says it won't release details until deals are finalized. This lack of transparency has drawn an ethics complaint over the JobsOhio board chair's ties to a lobbying firm that works for American Electric Power, a utility that could benefit if a pending bill lets utilities own nuclear plants and add them to customer rates. AEP says the concerns are baseless.

For homeowners, none of this creates a rebate or program you can apply to directly. It's a state-level fight over which energy sources get public backing for new power supply, at a time when the regional grid operator (PJM) says it needs more generation capacity, not less. If Ohio ends up steering investment away from solar and wind and toward gas and nuclear, it could shape what kind of power — and how cleanly it's generated — reaches homes in the state over the next decade, though the practical effects for individual households aren't yet clear.