The following begins to outline how to think about an energy strategy for Ohio. It was written by Richard Stuebi, BP Fellow for Energy and Environmental Advancement at the Cleveland Foundation. What would you add?

To improve the quality of life in our area, The Cleveland Foundation is committed to the development and implementation of an advanced energy strategy for Ohio. By our definition, advanced energy includes a full spectrum of renewable/alternative energy, distributed generation, cogeneration (or combined heat and power), energy efficiency, and innovative environmentally-beneficial means of using hydrocarbon fuels. Put another way, advanced energy means reducing environmental impact associated with energy use and improving energy supply security — both of which are worsened by continued reliance on fossil fuels (especially petroleum products).

Advanced energy is thus in contrast to conventional energy. In the case of the electricity industry in Ohio, conventional energy generally means traditional coal-fired and nuclear generation in central station powerplants, transmitted and distributed over a grid mainly owned/controlled by investor-owned utilities, to residential and business consumers.

The Foundation is convinced that a transformation to advanced energy in the electricity sector is an important part of the solution to the problems facing the Ohio electricity industry.

It is The Foundation’s strong belief that virtually all new energy production – whether advanced energy technologies or even new conventional plant built to modern standards – will be both cleaner and more efficient than the current base of generation. Any actions that facilitate new entrants coming into the electricity marketplace will be good for healthy energy markets, will be good for reducing customers’ expenditures on energy, and will be good for the environment.

Furthermore, The Foundation believes that advanced energy represents more than just an ameliorating force to the problems facing the state’s electricity sector, but also an immense opportunity for the state’s economy.

It is difficult to come to any other conclusion than advanced energy will be a multitrillion dollar global industry within the space of a few decades, one which needs now to be invented largely from scratch. With its manufacturing heritage and materials excellence, Ohio can become a global hub of technology and business expertise in advanced energy. No place in the world is necessarily poised to dominate all forms of advanced energy, and Ohio can effectively compete to claim a major place at the advanced energy table. Thus, advanced energy can be the vehicle by which Ohio can reclaim the economic leadership it had achieved in the early 20th Century and has since lost.

To become once again a compelling place to live and do business in the 21st Century, Ohio must more aggressively foster:

• The development of advanced energy technologies. 
• The emergence of advanced energy businesses.
• The completion of advanced energy projects. 
• The adoption of advanced energy solutions.

This is not just an issue, and an opportunity, for Northeast Ohio, but for the entire state.

If we solve the issues facing conventional energy and capture the economic opportunity afforded by a transformation to advanced energy here in Ohio, the export potential to the rest of the nation, and indeed the entire world, is staggeringly large.