"Energy Efficiency Boosts Ohio's Economy"

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   June 17, 2019 David Phillips, Chief Executive Officer, Barnesville Hospital. State Policy A well-known modern version of the ancient Hippocratic Oath asks would-be doctors to swear to “first, do no harm.” That’s a creed Ohio lawmakers should keep in mind as they decide whether to do away with state energy efficiency programs that benefit all Ohioans by protecting our health, saving us money, creating jobs and strengthening our economy.

I oversee the Barnesville Hospital in Belmont County in southeastern Ohio. We are a critical access hospital — providing the rural area we serve with the only nearby access to emergency services and acute care. We are also a major employer in our area, providing jobs for 280 members of our community.

As someone who oversees a healthcare facility and understands the vital role we play in the protecting health of our community, I care deeply about energy efficiency. Given the nature of our work, hospitals use a lot of energy. Hospitals need to be operational 24 hours a day, seven days a week, even during natural disasters and extreme weather events. Efficiency helps us both meet that standard and reduce our energy use.

Energy efficiency is also a critical tool to help prevent air pollution, the single largest environmental threat to human health. Energy production and use actually account for the majority of air pollution caused by human activity. In Ohio, air pollution from high levels of ozone and particulate matter are putting the health of Ohio citizens at risk.

These are among the top reasons why we had our hospital’s energy use audited in 2010. The ENERGY STAR study scored us at 19 out of 100. The results were humbling, but they also provided a roadmap for improvements.

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Ohio’s energy efficiency programs made these improvements feasible. The state’s energy efficiency framework and AEP Ohio’s Business Savings Incentive Programs made our energy efficiency wish list a reality.

All together, the improvements we made cost us $33,000 up front, but they save us $16,600 a year on electricity costs. Needless to say, it already has paid for itself. Thanks to these investments, our ENERGY STAR score zoomed to a perfect 100 in just a few short years. As one of only three hospitals in the country to earn a perfect score, our rural hospital is now a national leader in efficiency. Further, the savings from these improvements can be put toward ensuring we continue to provide high-quality patient care, which is incredibly important for a critical access hospital with a smaller budget.

In addition to saving the hospital money, efficiency projects like these save all ratepayers money, too — even if they never take direct advantage of energy efficiency programs. That’s because when we collectively reduce our electricity waste, we don’t have to build as many new power plants, buy as much electricity on the open market or rely on more expensive sources of power, all of which would create additional costs for ratepayers.

When it comes to the cost benefits of energy efficiency in Ohio, the numbers speak for themselves. It is the cheapest way for our state to meet its energy needs, with nuclear and coal-fired power plants costing three times as much to operate when compared to investing in energy efficiency measures and, for every dollar spent on energy efficiency, Ohioans see $2.65 in benefits.

Efficiency also means we are not burning as much coal and natural gas — fuels that contribute to air pollution, which in turn can lead to increased frequency and severity of asthma attacks and other respiratory diseases, and which contributes to heart attacks, cardiovascular disease and premature deaths.

In medicine, when a treatment option improves a patient’s health, we stay the course and build upon the success of that treatment. It is hard to understand why lawmakers wouldn’t use the same logic when it comes to energy efficiency. Why would we get rid of efficiency policies and programs that pay for themselves and improve the health of our residents?

Instead of doing away with Ohio’s energy efficiency programs and all the benefits they provide, lawmakers should focus how we could build upon the success of these programs. If a rural hospital in Ohio can benefit from these investments, so can hospitals, buildings and homes around the state.

Let’s make Ohio an efficiency powerhouse.

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