• Updated

December 12, 2024, Press Release from the Area Agency on Aging 3: The Ohio Department of Development and Area Agency on Aging 3 want to remind older Ohioans that assistance is available to help with their home energy bills. The Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) helps Ohioans at or below 175% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines for a household of up to seven members and 60% of State Median Income for a household of eight or more members to pay their heating bills.
Applied directly to the customer’s utility or bulk fuel bill, the benefit can help manage heating costs. Older Ohioans may go to their local Area Agency on Aging office for help with assembling the required documents and completing their HEAP application.

  • Updated

Lima gets recognized for a future project that will be the largest one in the state. Wednesday evening, the city got the "Clean Energy Innovator Award" from "Power A Clean Future Ohio" for the floating solar field they are putting on the Twin Lake reservoir, next to the water treatment plant. The nearly five-and-a-half-million-dollar floating solar field will generate around two megawatts of power. The city pays around 200 thousand dollars a year to power the water treatment plant, and this will save the city money in years to come. The solar field will be made up of over 3,400 solar panels over four acres of the reservoir, which will be the largest floating solar field in the state.

  • Updated

Pictured: A home with a red winter hat and red scarf. Winterizing a house concept. 

  • Updated

Plans for a floating solar field in the City of Lima are getting closer to reality. The city will be receiving millions of dollars in federal grants for the construction of floating solar panels at Twin Lakes Reservoir. On Monday night, Lima City Council unanimously voted to accept $2.5 million through two grants from the Department of Energy for the project: one for $500,000 and the other for $2 million. The floating solar panels will help the City of Lima to power the water treatment plant at Twin Lakes Reservoir while saving the taxpayer money.

  • Updated

Lima City Schools will accept a grant to assist with the purchase of 4 electric school buses. The district was selected to receive a $1.4 million EPA Clean School Bus Grant to cover the little over $1.7 million total price tag. In addition to the 4 new electric school buses, the purchase will come with the needed electrical infrastructure and charging stations. District administrators say this is a step toward going greener while also being economically savvy.

  • Updated

Many community members voiced strong concerns Monday night about a major proposed rate increase to their natural gas bills. The strong oppositions were voiced against Enbridge Gas Ohio, formerly Dominion Energy, and their plans to increase natural gas rates. According to the Office of the Ohio Consumers' Counsel, "Enbridge Gas Ohio is asking the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio for a 30% hike in what it charges consumers for natural gas distribution service." Inside Lima Senior, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio held a formal public hearing where several community members shared their concerns.

  • Updated

Rep. Bob Latta, from Ohio’s 5th Congressional District, introduced the SECURE Grid Act, which would require states to find the shortcomings and risks to their power needs. The act would require states to submit a State Energy Security Plan every year to get federal funding to improve security and resilience.  Latta says the United States needs more power and protecting and improving the current grid to defend against not only weather-related outages but also cyberattacks.

  • Updated

August 22, 2024, Press Release from the Office of Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost: (COLUMBUS, Ohio) — Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to pause a federal rule that forces states and power plants to comply with “unrealistic” and “unlawful” regulations targeting air pollution. In a filing with the court, Yost and the attorney general of Kansas oppose a recent Environmental Protection Agency rule that gives coal-fired power plants an ultimatum: Capture and store 90% of carbon emissions or shut down within eight years.