In a special session of the Ohio legislature on Wednesday, one lawmaker defended his proposal to delay, rather than outright repeal, a rate increase levied by a controversial, corruption-stained nuclear power-plant bailout passed in 2019.
Another hearing will be held Thursday after the regular session.
Rep. Jim Hoops’ (R) bill HB 798, unlike competing proposals to repeal nuclear bailout law House Bill 6 (HB6), would put the bailout on hold for a year while Energy Harbor., the company at the center of the bailout, undergoes a third-party audit to ensure it actually needs millions in state subsidies to stay afloat.
Hoops said in a hearing of the Ohio House Select Committee on Energy Policy and Oversight, webcast Wednesday, that although the legislation may be flawed, it’s not “all bad” and could save two of the state’s nuclear plants, which he said are an important source of clean energy in the state. He said the law will also help support jobs provided by the two plants.
The controversial HB6, passed in 2016, would bail out two financially struggling nuclear plants owned by Energy Harbor, a former FirstEnergy Corp. subsidiary, through a $0.85 utility increase for Ohio ratepayers. Passed in 2019, HB6 is at the center of a corruption scheme that’s involved the criminal indictment of former Ohio House Speaker Lary Householder (R), the resignation of the head of Ohio’s public utility regulator and the firing of FirstEnergy’s CEO and other executives. Multiple federal and state investigations have been launched into FirstEnergy Corp. by the FBI, Securities and Exchange Commission and the Ohio Attorney General.
Along with auditing nuclear power plant operators to see if they really need a bailout, HB 798 would terminate any decoupling measures outlined in the law, which Hoops said existed largely to benefit only FirstEnergy. Decoupling is an energy policy that aims to remove incentives for companies to sell more energy.
HB 798 is emergency legislation, so it can be passed immediately — outside the constraints imposed in the normal lawmaking process — if two-thirds of each chamber of the Ohio legislature approves.
The three bills aiming to fully repeal HB 6 — HB 738, HB 746 and SB 346 — won’t be passed in time to spare ratepayers before the increases hit their bills in January.
