Smith Celebrates Passage of Energy Policy Overhaul

Today, state Senator Kent Smith (D-Euclid) commended the Ohio Senate’s passage of House Bill 15, which makes significant changes to Ohio’s energy policies to protect consumers, increase power generation, and improve the state’s electric grid. House Bill 15 largely mirrors Senate Bill 2, which was unanimously passed by the Senate in March.

“With the passage of House Bill 15, Democrats achieved significant policy wins that we have spent years fighting for that will benefit hard-working Ohioans all across the state,” said Smith. “It will keep money in the pockets of everyday Ohioans and help purge the corruption within state government.”

If enacted, House Bill 15 would:

• Promote accountability and transparency for consumers by requiring utilities to routinely come in for rate cases and justify how they spend ratepayer-collected money;
• Immediately end the “Legacy Generation Rider” so that Ohioans no longer have to foot the bill for OVEC subsidies, saving Ohio ratepayers nearly $450,000 per day;
• Create a permissive school energy efficiency loan program to reduce energy costs for public schools; and
• Protect consumers by codifying that they receive refunds for improper charges.

House Bill 15 now heads back to the Ohio House of Representatives for concurrence.