The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Nuclear subsidy referendum moves forward
Ohioans Against Corporate Bailouts’ attempt to repeal a bill subsidizing the state’s two nuclear power plants is moving forward.
Attorney General Dave Yost’s Office approved the group’s resubmitted summary petition language Aug. 29. That was followed by Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s certification of the group’s submission of more than 1,000 valid signatures Aug. 30.
Ohioans Against Corporate Bailouts now has until Oct. 21 — 90 days after Governor Mike DeWine signed House Bill 6 into law — to collect 265,774 valid voter signatures from registered voters in at least half of Ohio’s 88 counties.
The group is hoping to get an issues placed on the November 2020 ballot asking voters to repeal the bill.
House Bill 6 provides funding to subsidize the Perry and Davis-Besse nuclear power plants through the creation of the Ohio Nuclear and Renewable Generation Fund. The owner of those two plants, FirstEnergy Solutions, had said it would close them down if it did not receive support from the state.
The program, administered by the Ohio Air Quality Development Authority, would provide a $9 credit for every qualifying megawatt hour of nuclear and large-scale solar energy generated in Ohio.
FirstEnergy Solutions, the bankrupt owner of the two nuclear plants, had threatened to close the plants without receiving subsidies.
Monthly charges to fund the program will be capped at 85 cents for residential electric customers and $2,400 for large industrial users. The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio would set rates for commercial and smaller industrial customers. Those charges paid by residential, commercial and industrial customers will generate $170 million a year. Of that total, $150 million annually will go to the nuclear power plants and $20 million is earmarked to support six solar energy projects in Ohio.
House Bill 6 also allows utilities to charge ratepayers up to $1.50 per month to subsidize two coal-powered electric plants run by Ohio Valley Energy Corp. One of those plants is in southern Ohio and the other is based in Indiana.
By the end of 2020, the legislation will eliminate state electric mandates for energy efficiency, peak demand and the solar renewable portfolio standard carve-out. A solar carveout is the part of a state’s renewable portfolio standard that sets a specific level of electricity to be generated from solar panels.
A fourth mandate, the renewable portfolio standard, will be reduced and eventually eliminated by the end of 2026. Renewable portfolio standard is a requirement that a specified percentage of the electricity that utilities sell comes from renewable resources.
Ohioans Against Corporate Bailouts had its initial summary petition language rejected by Yost’s office Aug. 12. Yost said in a response letter to petitioners that his office found 21 instances of inaccuracies or omissions of statutory language within the text of the summary. The group submitted a revised version Aug. 16, which Yost’s office approved.
“Having examined the submission, I conclude that the summary is a fair and truthful statement of the measure to be referred,” Yost told the group in an Aug. 29 letter.
Ohioans Against Corporate Bailouts spokesperson Gene Pierce previously said in a statement, “Ohio voters have a constitutionally guaranteed process to weigh in on this shameful corporate bailout for FirstEnergy Solutions and the dismantling of Ohio’s renewable energy standards.”
One of the state’s two nuclear power plants is located in North Perry. The Perry Nuclear Power Plant went online for commercial operation in 1987. The plant employs about 700 people. The plant is currently licensed through 2026 and can apply for a 20-year extension to operate through 2046.