CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Conservative Ohio voters, whether Independent or Republican, are tired of utilities asking for special charges for coal and nuclear power plants, support mandatory energy-efficiency programs, favor home solar systems and are willing to pay higher monthly bills for renewable energy.

These are findings in a poll commissioned by the Ohio Conservative Energy Forum reveal grassroot attitudes are at odds with the speeches and actions of GOP legislative leaders during the past several years.

GOP lawmakers have repeatedly tried to kill state renewable standards, only to see Gov. John Kasich veto the legislation. Republican leadership has also tried to create extra charges on behalf of utilities that own old coal and nuclear power plants and find it difficult to compete with wind farms and gas turbine power plants.

Kasich, while touring a new gas turbine power plant last fall, specifically spoke against new state-created fees that FirstEnergy has been seeking for its Davis-Besse and Perry nuclear power plants.

Public Opinion Strategies, a Colorado-based polling company widely used by Republican candidates, including those in the Ohio House and Senate, interviewed 400 conservative Republican and Independent voters between Dec. 7 and Dec. 11. The margin of error is 4.9 percent.

The results show that support for green issues has grown since the company did an initial survey in the fall of 2016, said Lori Weigel, a partner in the polling firm.

Key points in the survey results include:

Sen. Matt Dolan, R-Chagrin Falls, who did not see the poll but has sponsored a bill to amend the state's current restrictive wind turbine property setback rules, said he thinks voter support for wind and solar will be even stronger "when the economics of moving toward renewables are revealed.

"When you talk to CEOs today, they are asking about your taxes, workforce development, regulations and energy. And they have added a question about energy. It used to be just about reliability. Now it's about source, where is the energy coming from.

"What this poll helps me be able to argue is that this is no longer a political issue. This is the direction of our state, where we need to invest."

Michael Hartley, a consultant with the Ohio Conservative Energy Forum, said the group is now talking to policy makers in the legislature and the Kasich administration about the

.

"The poll clearly shows that conservatives support energy efficiency policies and see it as a way to create more jobs and move Ohio forward," he said.

Current state law requires that 12.5 percent of the electricity sold by power companies be from renewable technologies by 2027. Using information on file at the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, Hartley said the cost of providing renewable energy to customers currently averages $4.44 a year, state-wide.

The extra cost for Cleveland Electric Illuminating customers is 6 cents per month, or 72 cents a year. Ohio Edison customers pay an extra 7 cents per month and Toledo Edison customers an extra 11 cents a month.