Ohio clean energy foe at forefront of key points in bailout law, ratification efforts
Rep. Seitz at House Session on June 10, 2020
"Documents made available last week show how House Majority Floor Leader Bill Seitz, R-Cincinnati, championed gutting Ohio’s clean energy standards in the state’s 2019 coal and nuclear bailout law. He has since served as a force against repeal.
Claims in a federal complaint released in July indicate that the law was at the heart of an alleged corruption scheme involving roughly $60 million. Former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, R-Glenford, and others were arrested last summer.
Failure to repeal the law in 2020 was 'an astounding failure by Republican leadership,' said Rep. David Leland, D-Columbus, as the legislature adjourned last month.
'Repealing the bill would be the dumbest thing ever done,' Seitz said in an Aug. 28 email to Ohio Energy Association lobbyist Michael Kurtz. 'All we need to do is to strengthen the audit standards and possibly revisit the FE [FirstEnergy] decoupling provision. The herd of sheeple are all in a panic over what I consider the best energy bill we ever passed in my 20 years.'"
- Kathiann M. Kowalski, Energy News Network