DeMora Calls on the Governor to Veto H.B. 173 and Increase Consumer Protections

Today, state Senator Bill DeMora (D-Columbus) and several members of the Senate Democratic Caucus sent a letter to Governor DeWine calling on him to veto House Bill 173. If signed by the governor, this bill would create a second regulatory framework for regulating submetering companies that is more lenient than decided by the Ohio Supreme Court decision in In re Complaint of Ohio Power Co. v. Nationwide Energy Partners, L.L.C., where they ruled that electricity reselling agencies are and should be regulated as public utilities.

“House Bill 173 simply does not have enough consumer protections in it to be the endpoint on submetering,” said DeMora. “I have more submetered customers than any other Senator in Ohio, and every time I hear from my constituents on this issue, they tell me how bad their experiences are! The Ohio Supreme Court already spoke, and they said that submetering companies are utilities and they have to provide all of the protections that other utilities have to. The legislature should not be creating different classes of customers simply because keeping everything equal may hurt the bottom line of submetering companies.”                                               

Current law requires that all utilities provide protections such as 24/7 help lines, access to Percentage of Income Payment Plans, and the ability for consumers to “shop” and choose their energy generation source. None of these protections are in H.B. 173 as passed by a 24-9 vote, with bipartisan opposition. 

Read the letter here.