The big-money coalition attacking solar and wind power scored a huge trophy this week. On Wednesday, the Ohio legislature became the first in the country to roll back renewable-energy standards for power generation, a victory for fossil fuels, soot and greenhouse gases. Gov. John Kasich is expected to sign the bill shortly.

In 2008, Ohio required that the state’s utilities generate 12.5 percent of their power from renewables by 2025, adding a little more each year. The bill freezes that requirement at the current level, 2.5 percent, for two years, and extends the final deadline to 2027. It also discourages solar and wind companies from investing in the state, eliminating the requirement that half the renewable generation take place in Ohio.

As The Times wrote in a recent editorial, the Ohio bill is part of a nationwide effort by utilities and fossil-fuel interests, including the Koch brothers, aligned with the conservative ideologues at the American Legislative Exchange Council. (The group works under the radar to pass carbon-copy right-wing legislation in statehouses across the country.)

One of the principal advocates of the Ohio rollback was State Senator Bill Seitz, a Republican from Cincinnati and a member of ALEC’s board. He made his feelings about the renewable requirement quite clear to the Wall Street Journal last year, saying it reminded him of “Joseph Stalin’s five-year plan.” The Koch brothers’ Americans for Prosperity applauded the Ohio bill, naturally, making the specious claim that that the renewable requirement would have cost consumers money. What they’re really worried about, of course, is that these requirements will cost them money, and will demonstrate the importance of government energy regulation.

For the state’s utilities, the bill represents a hefty return on the investment they have made in donating hundreds of thousands of dollars to state lawmakers. Their argument ultimately proved stronger than those of manufacturers, many of whom opposed the bill, and of a group of Ohio religious leaders.

As the Rev. Tim Ahrens, of the First Congregational Church in Columbus, put it earlier this month: “Senate Bill 310 is bad for business, but it is good for greed.”