Repeal House Bill 6 to put state on the right track

Champion energy efficiency to restore jobs and build a better future Corrupt energy legislation is a bigger scam than Ohioans might think

savings, albeit a bit delayed, and such savings have historically been reinvested back into the local economy, not sent out of state. Businesses have used the money to retain and hire local employees, invest in local supply chains and develop new products and services.

That’s why earlier in August over four dozen businesses, including Energy Management Solutions and many household names like Ball Corp, Nestle, Facebook and General Mills, sent a letter to Gov. Mike Dewine and members of the Ohio legislature urging the immediate repeal of HB 6. “Ohio’s renewable energy and energy efficiency standards have helped businesses and their supply chains cut energy costs, hedge against fuel price volatility and make progress toward their commitments to reduce emissions … We urge the immediate repeal of House Bill 6 in order to restore public confidence and ensure the continued growth of Ohio’s clean energy economy.”

Lawmakers should do more than repeal HB 6. They should become energy efficiency champions. Now is a time when we need lawmakers to restore trust and invest in proven, politically popular, economic jobs and growth programs that pay for themselves and help Ohio families. We need such programs to help us withstand the pandemic and position ourselves to quickly recover and thrive once social distancing ends.

Energy efficiency has already proved that it can be such an investment. Even simple efficiency upgrades, like light bulb replacements, have a big impact over time on energy costs. Study after study shows how many jobs energy efficiency programs create, how energy efficiency saves two or three times as much money as it costs, how it grows the economy, how it keeps our money in state and how it is supported across the political spectrum.

We need to invest in energy efficiency now so we can reap the rewards of family-wage jobs that can’t be outsourced, of cleaner air, of less expensive utility bills, of less pollution and better investments in our local communities. With energy efficiency, we can especially help those who are most impacted by coronavirus and climate change, such as low income families and communities of color.

By repealing HB 6 and investing more in efficiency, we can recover more quickly from the pandemic and build a clean energy future.

Gary A. Swanson is the president and owner of Energy Management Solutions.

Former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder has been indicted for allegedly employing insidious tactics to jam through House Bill 6, the corrupt energy legislation that serves as his legacy, in order to reward his political benefactors at Firstenergy with a $1.5 billion bailout. In the scandal’s aftermath, the bill’s sponsors, the new House speaker and even the governor who signed it into law have called for its repeal. They cite the corrupt and illegal activities leading to its passage.

Bribery notwithstanding, the HB 6 scandal is more offensive than has been alleged. The legislation was predicated on a lie constructed and repeated by Larry Householder to all Ohioans from the day the bill was introduced: “It will save you money.”

In order to sell the nuclear and coal bailout, Householder spun a false narrative that eliminating Ohio’s renewable and energy efficiency programs would more than offset the payouts to his friends, resulting in net savings. Householder allowed that a corporate bailout for a bankrupt utility company might be unseemly but, he said, “at least HB 6 will reduce your utility bill.”

Here is the fuzzy math Householder used to make his fraudulent case: HB 6 requires residential customers to pay $2.35 per month for the nuclear bailout and a separate bailout for two old coal plants (one in Indiana). But, Householder argued, customers would save $4.39 in charges for renewable energy and efficiency programs abolished by HB 6. In coming up with these alleged net savings of about $2 per month from this corporate giveaway, Householder purposely overinflated the cost of renewable energy programs and intentionally ignored the cost savings Ohioans reap from energy efficiency programs.

He also ignored an average utility bonus payment of 67 cents per month known as a “decoupling charge” to shore up profit margins.

Numbers can be tedious, and that was exactly what Householder was counting on. He claimed average renewable energy costs to be 74 cents per month. This is demonstrably false. He cherry-picked numbers from a dated report only calculating costs to a minority of Ohioans who did not select lower-cost energy available. The real average cost of the renewable program was only 36 cents, and in the case of some customers, as low as 11 cents per month to invest in the clean energy jobs of the future in wind and solar generation. Indeed, state law includes a cap to ensure renewables do not increase costs by more than 3%, and data shows the actual rate impact is 10 times less, a miniscule 0.3%.

Householder’s energy efficiency lie was even worse. Efficiency programs carried an average monthly fee of $3.36. These programs provide homeowners and small businesses with rebates and incentives to switch out aging appliances and upgrade old equipment that wastes energy. Even utilities acknowledge these programs are extremely popular because they save customers piles of money. In fact, utilities report savings of $2.60 for every dollar invested, for an average monthly savings of $7.71 per customer, resulting in cumulative savings of over $7 billion since 2009.

Further, programs that cut energy waste don’t just save money for the customers who take direct advantage of them, they also reduce demand for electricity systemwide, putting downward pressure on electric rates. If your neighbor reduces energy waste, you save money too. Householder only counted the cost side of the efficiency equation, then bragged that HB 6 would save money for working families.

In fact, rather than save customers money, HB 6 results in a rate hike of $7.01 per month, representing lower renewable energy costs, all of the lost efficiency savings and the new utility bonus.

Larry Householder cared only about creating the illusion that he had found the money to bail out his cronies at Firstenergy who bankrolled his campaigns and lined his pockets with cash.

This scam is every bit as criminal as the racketeering charges.

Newly installed House Speaker Bob Cupp and his colleagues in the General Assembly have a duty to right this wrong and repeal HB 6 immediately. Only then can Ohio have an honest dialogue about energy that reflects the values of our state and puts the sad chapter of HB 6 behind us.

J.R. Tolbert is managing director of Advanced Energy Economy.