By Farah Siddiqi
Ohio News Connection

A pair of new reports shows Ohio communities are quietly leading the way on clean energy, from urban centers to small towns, with solar power playing an increasingly central role.

Advocates said the findings reflect an economic opportunity for the state and a potential bipartisan path forward on climate action.

The new annual report from the nonprofit Power A Clean Future Ohio highlighted sustainability wins in communities across the state.

Joe Flarida, executive director of the group, said local action has often outpaced state-level efforts, and he emphasized that energy and climate work is happening across the political spectrum.

“We’ve seen this local movement building in Ohio, and it’s not just building in big cities – it’s building in small villages, suburban, rural, across the board,” Flarida said. “They make up all types of political backgrounds, demographics, economic traits and characteristics of these communities.”

In 2023, Ohio lawmakers passed House Bill 201, blocking cities from restricting natural gas use, a move clean energy advocates said has undercut local sustainability efforts even as community projects expand statewide.

Another new report from the crisis management firm UNPREDICTABLEcity found residential solar installations are booming statewide, including in rural and traditionally conservative areas.

Jon-Paul D’Aversa, principal at UNPREDICTABLEcity and the report’s lead author, said solar is becoming increasingly normalized among homeowners and comes down to basic economics.

“Electricity, in particular, has risen 30% since 2019,” D’Aversa said. “There’s a lot of pressure right now on folks to have that addressed. One of the ways that we see a lot of people addressing this [is] by just purely economics, for a lot of folks.”

He added his company’s report attributes the growth to falling solar costs and new local policies making installation easier. Analysts said Ohio’s solar expansion is a promising sign for the state’s energy independence and future economic competitiveness.

Pictured at top: Ohio has seen a 14% year-over-year increase in residential solar installations, with rural counties among the fastest-growing adopters, according to UNPREDICTABLEcity’s 2024 report. (Adobe Stock)