Ohio House passes controversial energy bill changing electric fees
COLUMBUS — The Ohio House voted 53-43 in favor of a controversial energy bill that will require Ohio’s 4.8 million electric customers to pay fees that will be used to subsidize two aging nuclear power plants and two coal-fired plants, including one in Indiana. House Bill 6 would wipe out surcharges currently paid by consumers for renewable energy, energy efficiency and peak demand reduction programs...
...Customers will also forego future savings when mandated energy efficiency programs are eliminated under the bill. The Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance reported the the energy efficiency programs have saved Ohio customers $5.1 billion between 2009 and 2017...read on at Dayton Daily News.
Ohio House Passes Trump-Backed Bill to Bail Out Nuclear Plants
Ohio state lawmakers are moving ahead on a bill that would gut the state’s renewable energy and energy efficiency funding in order to bail out nuclear power plants owned by bankrupt utility FirstEnergy Solutions and maintain customer charges for coal plants...The bill would eliminate Ohio’s renewable portfolio standard of 12.5 percent by 2027, passed in 2008, which has been under attack from state Republicans for years. It would also eliminate the nearly $200 million per year, collected in surcharges of roughly $1.69 per month on Ohio utility customers, to fund energy efficiency and demand-reduction programs, which have saved Ohio customers $5.1 billion from 2009 to 2017, according to the Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance...read on at Greentech Media.