The following statement can be attributed to Rachael Belz, Director, Ohio Consumers Power Alliance.

Starting today, residents in many areas of Ohio will begin hearing radio ads targeted at members of the Ohio House of Representatives ahead of House Bill 6 testimony. The radio ads will run in the following districts:

• Representative Nino Vitale (District 85 – Logan, Champaign, part of Shelby)
• Representative Niraj Antani (District 42—Miamisburg)
• Representative Bill Reineke (District 88—Tiffin)
• Representative Derek Merrin (District 47—Monclova Township)
• Representative Craig Riedel (District 82—Defiance)
• Representative Tom Brinkman (District 27—Mt. Lookout)

The ads are paid for by the Ohio Consumers Power Alliance, a project of the Ohio Citizen Action Education Fund, and will focus on House Bill 6 being a nuclear power plant bailout tax. The legislation is a creative approach used to disguise a consumer-funded bailout of two old, outdated nuclear plants as a comprehensive energy policy to reduce carbon emissions. Every ratepayer in Ohio would be charged a monthly fee to subsidize FirstEnergy’s failing investments.

Calling House Bill 6 a clean air program that will save consumers money is disingenuous and dishonest. This bill is designed for one purpose – to bailout bankrupt FirstEnergy. House Bill 6 will actually cost hardworking Ohio families an additional $6.11 per month since it removes energy efficiency savings.

It is clear that state legislators are misleading Ohio consumers. Energy efficiency saves customers money. For every $1 spent on energy efficiency measures, $2.65 in savings results. In fact, programs under Ohio’s existing energy efficiency standards have already saved Ohioans $5.1 billion. This critical fact has been completely ignored by supporters of the legislation, demonstrating again that elected officials are not telling consumers the whole story.  The real cost of House Bill 6 is $312 million annually, and families will see $6.11 MORE in charges on their monthly utility bills.

House Bill 6 remains a contested bill and hearings will continue in the Ohio House on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. Consumers deserve to know what is at stake for their families. Legislators need to look at the numbers and tell the entire story. 

MEDIA CONTACT: Tracy Sabetta | 614-581-2907 | [email protected]

FirstEnergy's Davis Besse nuclear plant at Oak Harbor, Ohio. PHOTO BY AlienCG / Creative Commons

COLUMBUS -- "Ohio Republicans pushing a bill to subsidize two nuclear plants are finding themselves at odds with conservative groups in the state.

...Both the Buckeye Institute and Americans for Prosperity’s Ohio chapter were among dozens of parties who offered testimony to the committee late last month along with clean energy groups, consumer advocates and other opponents.

'[I]n the plain-spoken language most Ohioans prefer to use, HB 6 is corporate welfare,' said Micah Derry, Ohio state director of Americans for Prosperity. 'It is cronyism on full display; in other words, a bailout.'

Likewise, research fellow Greg Lawson of the Buckeye Institute called HB 6’s provisions 'classic examples of government subsidies being used to prop up declining businesses — the Davis-Besse and Perry nuclear power plants operated by FirstEnergy Solutions. 'And while there would be some funds that could be drawn upon by other entities, those monies risk 'becoming a glorified slush fund with the real incentive being for companies to find new and creative ways to tap into that fund,' rather than risking their own capital, he added."

-- Kathiann M. Kowalski, Midwest Energy News

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Berea Manufacturing owner Mike Pandoli sits in his office on Wednesday, May 1, 2019. (Andrew J. Tobias, cleveland.com)

BEREA — "If passed, a controversial energy bill under debate by Ohio lawmakers could cause a small Cleveland-area welding shop’s electric bill — and possibly those of other businesses like it — to more than double.

Berea Manufacturing, which employs eight people in an industrial park not far from Baldwin Wallace University, under House Bill 6 could see its monthly electric bill go up from around $800 a month to around $1,800 a month, according to an analysis from experts contacted by cleveland.com.

...Because of how HB 6 is written, other similar small companies could be disproportionately impacted if they, like Berea Manufacturing:

• Are an industrial business with multiple electric meters, despite being just one company and
• Have relatively low electricity use

Here’s why.

HB 6, which lawmakers designed to bail out two financially troubled Ohio nuclear plants owned by FirstEnergy Solutions, a bankrupt former FirstEnergy subsidiary, would assess varying charges on each electric customer in the state to help subsidize “clean energy” generators. The new charges are expected to raise $150 million for the two nuclear plants, in Ottawa and Lake counties.

The bill would offset the new charges by eliminating existing charges that fund renewable energy and energy efficiency projects."

— Andrew Tobias, Cleveland.com

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COLUMBUS — New subsidies to reward the generation of power that emits no or less carbon into the air would be implemented more slowly under a bill approved Thursday by a Ohio House of Representatives subcommittee.

But while it might take a bit longer getting there, critics argue the bill still represents a consumer bailout for Ohio’s two nuclear power plants on the shore of Lake Erie.

...The bill would generally get rid of Ohio’s current mandates that utilities find more of their power from renewable sources, like wind and solar, and gradually reduce electricity consumption overall through efficiency programs.

It would replace those programs with credits for the generation of zero-emissions power, such as nuclear and renewable sources, and existing polluting sources like coal and natural gas that show they are reducing their carbon dioxide emissions."

— Jim Provance, Toledo Blade

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COLUMBUS -- Ohio Citizen Action is calling on Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder to remove Nino Vitale as chair of the House Energy and Natural Resources Committee for advocating the removal of subsidies that help poorer Ohioans become more energy-efficient.

Excerpt:

"As an organization with a strong commitment to helping all consumers see the benefits of clean, renewable and energy efficiency efforts and affordable utility bills, we find Vitale’s comments are imprudent, inappropriate, narrow-minded and discriminatory.

…We find it reprehensible that an Ohio lawmaker would prefer to subsidize a bankrupt energy giant, rather than assist low-income Ohioans with programs that would keep them warm and ultimately help save money. Yet, House Bill 6 would require those same low-income consumers to pay to bailout FirstEnergy’s nuclear plants. Vitale’s stance fails to put the needs of his constituents first. It fails to think of those in need. It fails to see the big picture or listen to logic. Ironically, 11.1 percent of residents in Champaign county live in poverty as do 13.7 percent of Logan residents and 8.9 percent of Shelby residents – all Vitale’s constituents.

Vitale is entitled to his own beliefs and bias towards poor Ohioans, but he has revealed his one-sided goal to benefit Wall Street investors – not hardworking Ohioans. Someone so blatantly opposed to helping low-income Ohioans is unfit to lead the Ohio House Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Mr. Speaker, we hope you agree that by his actions, Rep. Vitale is unfit to lead as Chairman. ”

— Rachael Belz, Executive Director, Ohio Citizen Action, letter to Larry Householder, Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives

read the full letter (pdf)

COLUMBUS -- "The chair of the Ohio House committee that may soon be considering legislation to offer hundreds of millions in subsidies to “clean-energy” nuclear power plant owners is arguing in favor of the bill because it would remove subsidies that help poorer Ohioans become more energy-efficient.

Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chair Nino Vitale, in a Wednesday email to fellow Republican state Rep. John Becker, wrote that low-income Ohioans should have to cover their own costs of insulating their homes and using LED light bulbs, rather than accept money from ratepayer-funded energy-efficiency programs.

'I ask, how many subsidy programs do we need to give away? We are already paying for food, heating assistance, cell phones, child support, and the list goes on and on,' Vitale wrote.

'While this may sound mean to some, a little hunger in the belly or being a little cold on some really cold days is a good incentive for me to get up, go to work and provide for my 5 boys and wife,' the Urbana lawmaker continued. 'If everything is provided for me through government programs that I will never have to reimburse, what incentive is there for me to ever change and cover my own expenses?'"

-- Jeremy Pelzer, Cleveland Plain Dealer

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COLUMBUS -- "A newly formed organization that is fighting against the new clean air/nuclear bailout legislation under debate in the Ohio House is hitting two Republican lawmakers with radio attack ads.

The Ohio Consumers Power Alliance, which calls itself a statewide consumer advocacy group focused on keeping energy rates low through a diversified energy portfolio, is going after Rep. Shane Wilkin, R-Hillsboro, a prime sponsor of the bill, and Rep. Dick Stein, R-Norwalk, chairman of the subcommittee hearing the bill.

...Rachael Belz, project director for the Ohio Consumers Power Alliance, testified against House Bill 6 on Tuesday, calling it a 'creative approach used to disguise a consumer-funded bailout of two old, outdated nuclear plants as a comprehensive energy policy to reduce carbon emissions.'

Belz, who also is executive director of Ohio Citizen Action, a grassroots mobilizing organization, said the new Power Alliance was formed three weeks ago and is funded by individuals and groups backing the Ohio Citizen Action Education Fund.

'Not one penny of our Ohio consumer dollars should be spent to bail out these plants,' she said."

-- Jim Siegel, Columbus Dispatch

read the full article

COLUMBUS -- "I am standing here today representing the Ohio consumer, a voice that is often mentioned but rarely heard in Ohio’s energy debate. We know our fight against FirstEnergy’s multiple attempts to saddle Ohio ratepayers with higher electric bills is a bit of a David and Goliath-scale battle. But we hope you will hear our opposition to this bill.

And we are not alone. As you may have noticed during last week’s proponent testimony, over the course of nearly four hours, only those wanting to keep the two nuclear plants open testified. There was no support demonstrated by any other sector you say will benefit from this bill—no support from coal, natural gas, wind, solar, hydropower, or energy efficiency. Their absence was noticeable and should have you asking the question as to why a bill you say is not a bailout is only supported by those who want a bailout.

Our members remain staunchly opposed to rewarding FirstEnergy’s bad business decisions by allowing them to dig deep into the pockets of Ohio ratepayers to cover the bill with no end in sight. We also remain deeply disappointed that that this legislation would reject energy innovation and job growth while keeping Ohio firmly planted in the dark ages of energy technology."

-- Rachael Belz, Project Director, Ohio Consumers Power Alliance

read full testimony

New monthly fees would be collected from all 4.8 million electric utility customers in Ohio under energy bill

COLUMBUS — "Environmentalists and consumer advocates on Tuesday warned that a bill pending in the Ohio House would pile more costs onto consumers and stifle renewable energy and conservation programs.

...Also, the bill would wipe out mandates for renewable energy and energy efficiency but allow utility companies to continue charging customers for the efficiency programs.

'In addition to footing the bill to bailout FirstEnergy’s two outdated nuclear plants, Ohio consumers would be left holding the bag for clean energy programs that would no longer exist. The legislation effectively repeals the state’s renewable energy and energy efficiency standards, but clears the way for utilities to continue billing their customers for the benefits they will no longer receive,' said Tracy Sabetta, of the Ohio Consumers Power Alliance."

— Laura Bischoff, Dayton Daily News

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COLUMBUS — "FirstEnergy’s efforts to try to get Ohio politicians to rescue its troubled nuclear power business haven’t come cheap.

Since 2017, FirstEnergy and its allies have spent millions on campaign contributions to Ohio politicians, as well as on lobbying, public relations and advertising, state and federal records show. The time period covers multiple attempts to subsidize the Davis-Besse nuclear plant near Toledo and the Perry nuclear plant, near Cleveland, including a new iteration, a “clean air” bill Republican state lawmakers rolled out on Friday.

Nailing down an exact number is difficult. But the spending can be tracked through two main sources:

· State and federal campaign-finance filings, which detail campaign contributions from FirstEnergy and its allies.

· Filings in the ongoing bankruptcy proceedings for FirstEnergy Solutions, a former subsidiary which FirstEnergy spun off last year as it works to exit the power-plant business. FirstEnergy Solutions now owns the plants, part of a corporate restructuring plan that’s currently before a federal bankruptcy judge in Akron for approval.

Some of that campaigning showed itself on Friday, when state lawmakers rolled out House Bill 6, which would tack new fees onto every electric bill in Ohio, raising $300 million for “clean energy” — including $150 million for the Davis-Besse and Perry plants — while eliminating different charges that fund renewable energy projects. Backers of the plan bill it as a way to fund clean energy and protect jobs, while downplaying the legislation’s origins as a way to rescue the nuclear plants, which together have about 1,400 full-time employees."

— Andrew Tobias, Cleveland Plain Dealer

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