$1.3B nuclear energy bailout leaves questions

With just a little more than two months until the November election, the $1.3 billion nuclear energy bailout at the center of an alleged bribery scheme remains on the books in Ohio.

Don’t expect that to change in the next week.

The future of House Bill 6 – the law at the center of a nearly $61 million bribery scheme involving former Speaker Larry Householder and four allies – is murky.

Gov. Mike Dewine and House Speaker Bob Cupp, R-lima, say they favor repealing and replacing the law. Senate President Larry Obhof, R-medina, supports repealing the bailout soon.

“I favor a complete repeal,” Obhof told reporters last week, adding that he isn’t sure what a replacement would look like. “I don’t know what you would replace it with.”

What replaces House Bill 6 – if anything – is a messy question. It’s messy because the passage of the law that subsidizes two nuclear plants in northern Ohio then-owned by Firstenergy Solutions was messy.

To pass House Bill 6 the first time,

Ohio’s legislative leaders cobbled together an alliance of Republicans who wanted to ax certain subsidies for renewable energy or energy efficiency, Democrats who supported union workers at the plants and lawmakers who represent the communities that face layoffs if plants close.

A replacement bill that appeases one lawmaker might alienate another.

Rep. Bill Seitz, R-green Township, says he doesn’t support repeal of the nuclear subsidies because the law is a rate cut for Ohio consumers and businesses. He said he isn’t alone. To date, the loudest voices for repealing House Bill 6 have been lawmakers who voted against it last year.

“I ain’t voting to repeal it, period,” Seitz told The Cincinnati Enquirer.

What’s next

On Monday, Cupp announced the creation of a new committee, the House Select Committee on Energy Policy and Oversight, to handle legislation seeking to repeal House Bill 6.

Three bills were sent to that committee, which will meet in the coming weeks, House GOP spokeswoman Taylor Jach said.

The committee’s members were not immediately announced.

Creating a new committee wasn’t enough movement for House Democrats, all but nine of whom voted against House Bill 6 last year.

“It is obvious now that the Republicans do not actually want to repeal House Bill 6,” said Reps. Michael J. Skindell, D-lakewood, and Michael O’brien, D-warren, in a released statement. “House Democrats learned of the creation of this unnecessary level of bureaucracy today along with the rest of the public.”

In the Ohio Senate, a bipartisan effort to repeal and replace House Bill 6, Senate Bill 346, is receiving its first hearing Tuesday.

How a bill is passed is important to Obhof. If lawmakers learn that companies are scamming the system, legislators should send a message, Obhof said.

“If you do, and people find out about it, we’re going to go back and rip it out,” he said.

A coming election

If Ohio lawmakers are going to repeal House Bill 6 before Election Day, they face a ticking clock.

The November election is close to two months away. Failure to take some action could keep energy policy at the forefront of the next election.

On Monday, the Coalition to Restore Public Trust, a group funded by the Ohio Oil & Gas Association, Americans for Prosperity’s Ohio chapter and others, released an ad featuring several lawmakers, including Seitz. The ad accused Firstenergy of threatening Ohio families and lawmakers.

“Now it’s up to state leaders to give in or fight back?” the ad asks. The group also has run ads supporting lawmakers working to repeal House Bill 6.

However, House Democrats are focusing more on the alleged bribery scheme than the energy law itself.

One Facebook ad reads: “‘Bribery, pure and simple.’ When you follow the money it leads you straight to a corrupt GOP that includes your state representative. This is embarrassing for Ohio. It’s time we vote them out.”

Another deadline is Jan. 1, 2021, when ratepayers start paying for the nuclear plants on their electric bills. But at least one deadline has passed: the nuclear plants refueled earlier this year. @jbalmert jbalmert@gannett.com