Pages tagged "HB6"
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Consumer organizations respond to expulsion of Representative Larry Householder from the Ohio House of Representatives
Posted on Recent news by Lukas Oktaba · June 16, 2021 3:49 PM(OH-June 15, 2021) While the time had long passed to take this necessary step, we applaud members of the Ohio House of Representatives for finally taking decisive action in removing former House Speaker Larry Householder from his position as a State Representative.
Actions taken by Householder and his associates have disgraced the state of Ohio, and we are all still working to clear the cloud of corruption that hangs over our state government. It is time for a fresh start for the people of Ohio.
Householder had been removed from the Speakership and was not serving a role on any standing committee. Every day he was retained in the Ohio House served as a reminder of the scandal surrounding the passage of Bill 6. His continued presence sent a strong signal that while bribery and back room deals were welcome in Ohio, clean energy development is not.
Our state’s energy policy has been in the hands of corrupt politicians and polluting corporations long enough, it is time to take back our energy future. We thank the members of the House of Representatives who voted to oust Larry Householder from the Ohio House of Representatives today.
Rachael Belz, Director, Ohio Consumers Power Alliance and Executive Director of Ohio Citizen Action
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Repeal the HB6 Coal Bailout
Posted by Lukas Oktaba · May 09, 2021 10:57 AMUrgent: Please send a digital letter to your legislators urging them to JUST VOTE ALREADY on SB117 and HB351.
What is House Bill 6?
OVEC and HB6
The repeal of HB6 is incomplete without a full repeal of the bailout for the Ohio Valley Electric Corporation (OVEC) coal plants--Kyger Creek in Ohio and Clifty Creek in Indiana.
The OVEC coal bailout was only added to HB6 after three of Ohio’s electric utilities--AEP, Duke, AES Ohio (formerly Dayton Power & Light--opposed FirstEnergy getting a bailout for the Davis Besse and Perry nuclear plants. It’s important to note that FirstEnergy is a partial owner of the OVEC plants and is currently trying to detach itself from the corporation. It was only after the legislature provided AEP, Duke, and AES Ohio a bailout for OVEC that those companies changed their position to one of support for the exceedingly corrupt HB6. FirstEnergy also benefitted from the OVEC bailout in HB6. AEP, the largest shareholder of OVEC, was subpoenaed for its involvement in the HB 6 scandal.
Before the passage of HB6, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) had already approved bailouts for AEP, Duke, FirstEnergy, and AES Ohio’s shares of the OVEC coal plants through the mid 2020s with an argument that the plants could be profitable if power prices were to increase significantly. Instead, the plants have lost money every single year and been a financial drain and environmental burden on Ohioans.
HB6 fundamentally altered the OVEC bailout by extending and expanding it.
This Plain Dealer editorial sums up the lingering damage of HB6:
HB6 has forced Ohioans to pay more than $140.4 million in subsidies to bail out the Kyger Creek coal plant in Gallia County, Ohio, and Clifty Creek coal plant in Indiana. Over that same period the two plants have spewed more than 17 million tons of carbon dioxide into the air. "For all this, Ohioans can thank our General Assembly, which has failed to yank House Bill 6, root and branch, out of the Revised Code."
HB6 extended the bailout of the OVEC coal plants to 2030. HB6 expanded the bailout of the OVEC coal plants to require FirstEnergy customers to pay for the bailout starting in 2020. All the money collected from FirstEnergy customers is handed over to AEP, Duke, and AES Ohio to further subsidize the bailouts for those companies.
HB6 also limited PUCO’s ability to protect customers from the OVEC bailout by allowing AEP, Duke, and AES Ohio to recover all “prudent” costs without defining what costs are “prudent.”
The solution: Senate Bill 117 and House Bill 351
Ohioans should not be on the hook for AEP, Duke, and AES Ohio’s bad bet on the OVEC plants.
Ohioans shouldn’t be paying more each month to bail out two dirty, inefficient, expensive 1950s coal plants for the next decade. These plants should be retired, not bailed out. SB117 and HB351 are the first step in that process.
Each of the bills is a full repeal of the OVEC coal plant bailout, and includes a refund to ratepayers. Both bills are bipartisan, and Governor DeWine has said he supports a repeal of the OVEC coal bailout.
SB117 and HB351 must be passed so the PUCO will regain its authority to protect customers from the continued excessive OVEC bailout costs, and so the OVEC owners--AEP, Duke, AES Ohio--can take responsibility for the power plants that they own and that do not benefit Ohioans.
SB117 and HB351 must be passed so FirstEnergy customers will no longer be on the hook for the OVEC plants--a cost they weren’t paying before HB6 was signed into law.
SB117 and HB351 must be passed to limit utility influence and money--money collected from customers--in the legislature. The OVEC bailout in HB6 was a handout to AEP, Duke, and AES Ohio to get their support for the corrupt HB6. Ohioans should dictate what goes into legislation, not big companies like AEP, Duke, and AES Ohio.
Proponent testimony for SB117 was held in May 2021. Testimony came from a large and vocal group of stakeholders. Business owners, environmental advocates, and members of the public all voiced their support for SB117.
Opponent testimony for SB117 was held June 15, 2021. It starkly contrasted the proponent hearing in that the only opposition came from representatives of the utility companies.
Both bills are stuck in committee, but you can urge your legislators to get SB117 and HB351 out on the floor for a vote ASAP!
History of OVEC
While OVEC was initially developed in response to national security concerns during the 1950s, OVEC’s contract with the Department of Energy ended in 2003. It was after this time that OVEC signed contracts with Ohio’s AEP, Duke, AES Ohio and a host of other power providers that extended the life of the power plants through 2040. The OVEC units no longer provided power for uranium enrichment facilities, which had begun the decommissioning process.
After the end of the Department of Energy contract, all generation from the OVEC units began to be sold into the marketplace. OVEC contract holders renegotiated in 2011 extending a new contract out to 2040 without seeking approval from the PUCO. This decision effectively extended the Ohio utilities’ utilities to commitment to pay OVEC costs--whatever they end up being--through 2040. The owners made a bad deal, and are trying now to offload that bad contract onto its customers.
AEP, Duke, and AES Ohio have been losing money on their ownership share of these plants for years and that is projected to continue.
PUCO carried out an audit of the OVEC bailout in 2020. The independent auditor confirmed the OVEC bailout has not just been a bad investment to date but also that with increased capital investment, those costs will go up even more. Additionally, the auditor found the OVEC coal plants were being run at times where the costs would be even higher for customers; customers would save money if the plants just weren’t being run.
In late 2020, the OVEC plants filed with USEPA that each plant will comply with new environmental protections rather than retire. These new capital investments will mean new debt and costs for Ohioans.
The Ohio Consumers’ Counsel says that so far $254 million in coal subsidies have gone to OVEC coal plants since the beginning of 2020. Another $287,000 rolls in EVERY DAY.
Senate Energy & Public Utilities Committee Chair Bob Peterson
Proponent Testimony on Senate Bill 117
Testimony of Melissa K. English
Deputy Director, Ohio Citizen Action
May 12, 2021
Chair Peterson, Vice-Chair Schuring, Ranking Member Williams, and Members of the Energy & Public Utilities Committee, my name is Melissa English and I’m the Deputy Director of Ohio Citizen Action. I thank you for the opportunity to present our support for Senate Bill 117.
This testimony is presented on behalf of Ohio Citizen Action’s 32,000 members and all Ohio utility ratepayers who have a stake in the decision before you.
While we acknowledge that portions of House Bill 6, the bill at the center of a $61 million bribery scandal, have been revoked, the repeal is incomplete without a full reversal of the bailout for two dirty coal plants operated by the Ohio Valley Electric Corporation or OVEC.
OVEC is owned by Ohio’s major electric utilities and consists of two large coal plants – Kyger Creek in Cheshire, Ohio and Clifty Creek in Madison, Indiana. OVEC was formed in 1952 by utilities to provide electric services in the Ohio River Valley to provide power for uranium enrichment facilities then under construction by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission in Portsmouth. Many of those who support the OVEC bailout will often point out the fact that the plants were a national security resource as they powered the factory making the atomic bomb materials at the heart of the U.S. Cold War strategy. That was true once but has not been for decades. And it was not true when the utilities in question negotiated their latest intercompany power agreement that is in effect until June 30, 2040.
Before the passage of House Bill 6, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) had already approved bailouts for AEP, Duke, and Dayton Power & Light’s shares of the OVEC coal plants through the mid-2020s with an argument that the plants could be profitable if power prices were to increase significantly. Instead, the plants have lost money every single year and been a financial drain and environmental burden on Ohioans.
Rather than retiring these two dirty, inefficient, expensive 1950s coal plants, these corporations made decisions that led to bailout charges on the electric bill of Ohio consumers. We must not lose sight of the fact that the OVEC coal bailout was added to House Bill 6 after three of Ohio’s electric utilities – AEP, Duke, Dayton Power & Light – opposed First Energy and Energy Harbor getting a bailout for the Davis Besse and Perry nuclear power plants. It was only after the legislature provided these other utilities a bailout for the OVEC that those companies changed their position to one of support for the anti-consumer bill steeped in corruption. House Bill 6 extended the bailout of the OVEC plants to 2030.
Originally marketed as Ohio’s “Clean Air Program” when introduced in 2019, House Bill 6 now only contains the OVEC coal bailout and the removal of the renewable energy and efficiency standards. These provisions will result in an increase in harmful emissions, a lack of reliability for our energy future, and a black eye on Ohio in the clean energy market. It is time to be proud of Ohio again, to embrace innovation and reject the culture of corporate greed and government corruption. To do this, we must repeal ALL of House Bill 6 for Ohio ratepayers. We urge your support of the OVEC repeal contained in Senate Bill 117 and thank you for your consideration.
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Lame duck top priority: Repeal House Bill 6
Posted on Recent news by Lukas Oktaba · November 03, 2020 11:44 AMCOLUMBUS -- "U.S. Attorney Dave DeVillers has made clear that additional charges may be coming and could involve FirstEnergy. That’s the most direct reason to repeal HB 6 before ratepayers begin paying for the bailout as scheduled in January.
The financial industry is concerned about FirstEnergy’s integrity; on Friday, S&P Global Ratings agency downgraded the company’s rating by two levels, to BB+, based on the firing of Jones and what FirstEnergy’s internal review found. 'We view the severity of these violations at the highest level within the company as demonstrative of insufficient internal controls and cultural weakness,' the ratings company said, adding that the violations were 'significantly outside' industry norms.
Why should Ohio ratepayers be on the hook to bail such a company out until allegations are aired and resolved?
Just as important, what HB 6 does beyond the bailout is terrible energy policy. Ohio already does foolishly little to invest in a clean-energy economy that could revitalize manufacturing and make the state a leader in fighting climate change. HB 6 essentially cancels Ohio’s few remaining clean-energy incentives, putting the state in an even weaker position."
-- editorial, Columbus Dispatch
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Q: "How do you plead?" A: "Guilty, your honor"
Posted on Recent news by Lukas Oktaba · October 29, 2020 11:31 AMWe can stop calling Ohio's coal and nuclear bailout scandal an "alleged" bribery scheme. Two of the accused have now agreed to plead guilty.
Today, Jeff Longstreth, 44, a political consultant and key Householder adviser, and Juan Cespedes, 40, a FirstEnergy lobbyist, changed their pleas to "guilty" for the RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) charges in the $61 million federal corruption scandal involving former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder. The defendants face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
The FBI case says Cespedes and Longstreth organized Generation Now, the group that funneled Householder money to squelch the referendum that would have let Ohioians vote on the bailout.
Householder's attorney said he was stunned by the pleas. “I didn’t see those coming... He denies wrongdoing, and he will defend himself in court.”
What are you waiting for, Ohio legislature? Repeal HB6!
Stay tuned, because there's certainly more to come:
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Ohio Citizen Action Program Director delivers testimony in favor of repealing HB 6
Posted on Recent news by Lukas Oktaba · October 22, 2020 1:48 PM"My name is Anastazia Vanisko, and thanks for taking the time to put this all together and allowing us to testify. I’ll be testifying today in favor of repealing HB 6.
Through my work canvassing, both door-to-door and over the phone, I’ve spoken with hundreds of people about HB 6 since it was first introduced. There have been two elements present in all these conversations: confusion and disgust. Confusion, for two reasons: a) the very name of the bill is misleading, as a clean air bill wouldn’t raise our electric bills to bail out two coal plants while simultaneously slashing renewable energy standards; and b) our Republican-led legislature has made it clear that its members will live and die by the free market, yet they’re willing to bail out failing power plants without any proof that a bailout is needed. When the people I spoke with managed to get past their confusion, they were disgusted that our General Assembly would even consider such a terrible bill.
I wish I could tell you that people were surprised that HB 6 was being considered, but that wasn’t often the case. Most people saw this as yet another instance of their representatives putting their pocketbooks before their constituents. (Keep in mind, the conversations I’m referencing happened before it came out that a $61 million racketeering scheme put this bill on the books.) We’ve known for a long time that this was the product of corruption and that if legislators were listening to us, it never would have passed the first time around.
It’s not just the fact that they passed HB 6 that proves legislators weren’t listening to their constituents, but also the way they treated members of the general public who urged them not to pass this bill. When myself and other Clevelanders drove down to Columbus last year for the in-person, opponent hearings on HB 6 in spring of 2019, we were there listening to testimony for more than eight hours while we waited our turn. We were there longer than some of the legislators. By the time it was our turn as members of the public to speak, committee members who ultimately voted YES on HB 6 blatantly ignored us. I empathize with high school teachers who need to keep the attention of a room full of teenagers with cell phones, as I imagine it’s similar to what I felt speaking to a committee of elected officials who couldn’t bother to look up from their phones while I told them why I was opposed to HB 6. My fellow Clevelanders were given similar treatment.
Our legislators know that HB 6 is a bad bill that could never have passed without a $61 million push out the gate. It’s time that they start listening to our voices—the voices of the people they were elected to represent—instead of listening to large corporate donors. If they did that, they would know that we want an immediate and full repeal of HB 6.
Thank you for your time."
watch the hearing from October 21st on youtube
learn more about the hearings and sign up at www.ohiocitizen.org/testify
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Editorial: Ohioans lose if lawmakers fail to repeal HB 6
Posted on Recent news by Lukas Oktaba · October 21, 2020 3:17 PM"Backers of HB 6 like to say killing the energy efficiency programs saves consumers money because, as of January, a surcharge averaging $3.36 per month no longer will be added to electric bills and the new subsidy for the nuclear bailout will be less than that.
This ignores the fact that energy efficiency — saving energy — saves consumers money. Based on their filings with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, utilities said the efficiency measures saved the average customer $7.71 per month, more than covering the surcharge.
But the quibbling over the surcharges coming on and going off the bills always has ignored the real harm in HB 6, which is that it sends Ohio backward — away from the clean, safe energy sources that promise cleaner air and an opportunity for a manufacturing renaissance — instead, propping up nuclear and coal-fired plants."
-- The Columbus Dispatch Editorial Board
read the full article
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Ohio environmental groups hold virtual hearings over House Bill 6 repeal
Posted on Recent news by Lukas Oktaba · October 21, 2020 1:57 PM"Even when hearings were held in the House and Senate, most of those testifying were legislators and officials representing groups such as the Ohio Manufacturers Association and the Ohio Consumers' Counsel.
Citizens, on the other hand, haven't had their say, Leppla said.
'Essentially what we are seeing is that the public is not being invited to testify,' she said. 'It is a really corrupt piece of legislation. It's really important for the public to be heard.'
The fund along with several other groups such as the Ohio Citizen Action, Black Environmental Leaders and Solar United Neighbors have come together to hold the hearings, the first of which was held Wednesday."
-- Mark Williams, The Columbus Dispatch
read the full article
watch the hearing from October 21st on youtube
learn more about the hearings and sign up at www.ohiocitizen.org/testify
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The nuclear bailout nobody's talking about
Posted on Recent news by Lukas Oktaba · October 19, 2020 1:41 PMCOLUMBUS -- "In February, seven months after Gov. Mike Dewine signed the $1.3 billion ratepayer bailout that mostly would subsidize two Northern Ohio nuclear plants, FirstEnergy might have gotten an even bigger break in U.S. bankruptcy court. That’s when Judge Alan M. Koschik signed off on a settlement that largely excused FirstEnergy from footing part of the bill to clean up the aging nuclear plants in Ohio and another in Pennsylvania that it had bequeathed to to its successor, now known as Energy Harbor, in the event that company goes belly up.
If the new company can’t make a go of it with the nuclear and coal plants that had been owned by FirstEnergy, taxpayers could well be on the hook for whatever part of the estimated $10 billion nuclear cleanup that Energy Harbor and a trust fund it’s required to maintain can’t.
Those are cleanups that, for financial reasons, will take 60 years — decades during which the crumbling cooling tower of the company’s Davis-Besse plant, for example, will loom over the Lake Erie shoreline in view of South Bass Island, one of Ohio’s premier tourist attractions."
-- Marty Schladen, Ohio Capital Journal
read the full article
Please urge your legislators to repeal HB6! Already contacted them? Email again -- and encourage others to do the same -- at repealhb6.com!
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Latest challenge raises question of reopening FirstEnergy Solutions’ bankruptcy ruling
Posted on Recent news by Lukas Oktaba · October 09, 2020 9:52 PM"The Environmental Law & Policy Center, Environmental Defense Fund, Ohio Citizen Action, and the Ohio Environmental Council want the judge to consider suspending execution of the reorganization plan that was confirmed earlier this year. The groups also hope the bankruptcy court will consider if it should revise that confirmation order and conduct additional hearings. The groups filed the motion on Oct. 5.
'We’re asking the 6th Circuit to deal with these truly extraordinary circumstances,' in which federal and state corruption charges relate directly to assets involved in the bankruptcy case, said Howard Learner, executive director at the Environmental Law & Policy Center. Among other things, Ohio House Bill 6 authorizes roughly $1 billion in subsidies over the next six years for two nuclear plants owned by Energy Harbor, formerly known as FirstEnergy Solutions.
The federal and state cases allege that an unlawful conspiracy used dark money organizations to hide the source of spending from FirstEnergy (known as “Company A” in some documents), its current and former affiliates, and others in order to secure passage of HB 6 and to prevent a referendum on the law.
'The remedy that we’re asking in the 6th Circuit complements what the Ohio attorney general has already asked for it its lawsuit,' Learner said. As he sees it, that case effectively asks the state court to 'rescramble the eggs' and undo the reorganization."
-- Kathiann M. Kowalski, Energy News Network
read more
Please urge your legislators to repeal HB6! Already contacted them? Email again -- and encourage others to do the same -- at repealhb6.com!
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Here’s why Ohio lawmakers haven’t done anything about scandal-tainted House Bill 6 so far
Posted on Recent news by Lukas Oktaba · October 09, 2020 6:28 PM"The main reason, lawmakers and observers say, is because – much like congressional Republicans' unsuccessful attempts to repeal Obamacare in 2017 – there’s no consensus among GOP lawmakers on what, if anything, to replace HB6 with.
Some favor a straight repeal of HB6. Others think it should be replaced, and at least a few believe nothing at all should be done to alter it.
'They are all over the place,' said state Rep. Mark Romanchuk of Richland County about his fellow Republicans.
There are other reasons as well. Even Republicans who favor repealing and replacing House Bill 6 say they need time to study HB6, an enormously complex law that goes far beyond the nuclear bailout, and make sure that any changes they make to it won’t have unintended consequences for Ohioans."
-- Jeremy Pelzer, cleveland.com
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Please urge your legislators to repeal HB6! Already contacted them? Email again -- and encourage others to do the same -- at repealhb6.com!