COLUMBUS — "The push to bailout Ohio’s aging nuclear energy plants is taking to the airwaves with TV and radio spots running across the state and in neighboring Kentucky and West Virginia.

Generation Now, a secretive political money group, is bankrolling the ad campaign, Federal Elections Commission records show. And the buys – more than $225,000 — are being made by Strategic Media Placement, a Delaware County firm run by GOP operative Rex Elsass.

It’s the latest strategic move by the nuclear energy industry, which has forcefully supported House Bill 6. The pending legislation would eliminate existing renewable energy and energy efficiency mandates and surcharges and replace them with new fees applied to 4.8 million electricity customer bills across Ohio. The money would be used for a new grant program that would dish out $9.25 for each megawatt of carbon-free energy generated.

The bill is pending in the Ohio House.

Meanwhile, the Ohio Consumer Power Alliance, which opposes the bill, launched a radio ad campaign targeted in the legislative districts of six key lawmakers, including Republicans Nino Vitale of Urbana and Niraj Antani of Miamisburg." —Laura A. Bischoff, Dayton Daily News

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