Solar energy growing slowly in Ohio

Marion Star 

On sunny days, if you stare long enough at Brian McCoy’s power meter you can see it slowly turning backward.

McCoy, who lives in rural southeastern Ohio, boasts that his eight-panel solar array will pay for itself in three years through savings on his electric bill. It also buys him entrance into a unique market, one that is intended to incentivize development of renewable resources in Ohio.

Last year, American Electric Power was compelled to purchase what are called Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) representing 6,513 megawatts from Ohio-based producers of solar energy like McCoy. Each REC is the equivalent of 1 megawatt of produced renewable energy.