Scott Pullins

​The Ohio Conservative Energy Forum was incorporated as a charitable organization in Ohio on August 4, 2016 by Columbus attorney and lobbyist Terrence O’Donnell.  See link to filing here.
 
According to his lobbying reports, O’Donnell represents a who’s who of left wing, alternative energy organizations.  These include Advanced Energy Economy, Apex Clean Energy, Carbon Solutions Group, EDP Renewables, Green Tech Action Fund, Lake Erie Energy Development Corporation, and Open Road Renewables.  According to its website, the Green Tech Action Fund is affiliated with the Energy Foundation. 
 
Tyler Duvelius is the current Executive Director of the Ohio Conservative Energy Forum.  He previously served as the State Director of the Ohio Christian Coalition.  According to the 2016 IRS 990 form for the Green Tech Action Fund, $79,000 was granted to the Christian Coalition of America to conduct a clean energy digital ad campaign and support the Ohio state director. 
 
According to that same tax return, a grant of $60,000 was given to the Advance Energy Forum to support a digital advertising campaign in Ohio.  Another $20,000 was given to the Wind Energy Foundation for that same purpose. 
 
Bill Byers and Greg Bennett have lobbied for the Ohio Conservative Energy Forum since 2015.  According to their lobbying reports, the address for the group is the same address as The Energy Foundation and its affiliated Green Tech Action Fund in San Francisco. 
 
Michael Hartley has been identified as both the founder and a consultant for the Ohio Conservative Energy Forum.  Hartley is a former John Kasich staffer and the current President of Swing State Strategies, a GOP public affairs consulting firm. 
 
As I have previously written, the Ohio Conservative Energy Forum is actually an effort by left wing, California based liberal organizations to coopt and corrupt Ohio Republicans.  There is nothing conservative or Ohio about this group.
  

Once again, some GOP hired guns using the name Ohio Conservative Energy Forum are touting a poll purportedly showing that Ohio conservatives just love "clean energy".  Don't be fooled.  There is nothing conservative or Ohio about this group.

In fact, this is just the latest effort by far left, San Francisco based liberals to infiltrate and coopt Ohio Republicans.  According to their lobbying reports, the Ohio Conservative Energy Forum is simply a front for the San Francisco based Energy Foundation.  Here's how Influence Watch describes the Energy Foundation:

The Energy Foundation is a left-of-center “pass through” charitable foundation founded by and supported by a network of left-wing organizations. The Foundation began in January 1991 as a $20 million collaborative between the Pew Charitable Trusts, Rockefeller Foundations, and John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and has subsequently grown in partnerships and funding.[1] The Energy Foundation describes itself as a nonpartisan “grantmaker,” with a focus on building a “new energy economy.”[2] In reality, it is a medium for bundling vast sums of money from donors to far-left political causes, under the guise of philanthropy.

In December 2013, the Alabama Coal Association (ACA) accused several organizations of promoting a “war on coal.” The ACA cited roughly $3 million in grants given to anti-coal groups by the Energy Foundation, including the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. Federal filings show that the grant intent was “the accelerated retirement of conventional coal-fired plants.”[34]

Don't be fooled.  The Ohio Conservative Energy Forum is a liberal, San Francisco wolf in sheep clothing.  ​