Members of the Ohio Legislature [official website] on Thursday introduced Senate Bill 128 [text, PDF] which would give nuclear power plants in the state credits they could sell because they don’t create air pollution. The program is set to last eight periods, that are each two years long. In order to qualify for the credits, it must be shown that if the plant closed, fine particulate levels, carbon dioxide emissions, and carbon monoxide levels would be negatively impacted. The bill also requires that the employment at facilities that receive the credits remain similar to the levels of those that were constructed before 1990.

Ohio is one of several states who have been considering or introducing legislation to give nuclear power plants Zero-Emission Credits (ZECs) as a method of giving nuclear power plants credit for their carbon free electricity generation. Connecticut’s legislature is currently considering SB 106 [Text and status] which would grant ZECs to the nuclear power plants in that state. New Jersey’s legislature is currently considering bill S-3061 [Text] which would require a study to be conducted to consider the feasibility of enacting ZECs. Illinois’s governor signed [JURIST report] a bill in December that granted ZECs to some of the nuclear power plants in that state. In August New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced [press release] the establishment of the Clean Energy Standard. The standard provides assistance to upstate New York nuclear power plants to prevent their closure while also requiring that 50 percent of New York’s electricity will come from renewable energy by 2030.