House Bill 6 opponents call ‘dirty tricks’ on fake petition
In what a critic COLUMBUS — of House Bill 6 labels “dirty tricks,” supporters of the nuclear power plant bailout legislation apparently are circulating non-binding petition forms calling on Ohio lawmakers to “stop foreign ownership of our electric grid.”
At least two people seeking signatures Monday on the campus of Columbus State Community College bore petitions labeled with the disclaimer: “Paid for by Ohioans for Energy Security.”
The dark-money group is investing millions of dollars in a TV and mail campaign in an attempt to thwart a drive to gain signatures on a referendum petition to reverse a pending state law that would give FirstEnergy Solutions about $1 billion to subsidize its pair of nuclear power plants.
Comment from Carlo LoParo, a spokesman for Ohioans for Energy Security, was being sought Monday afternoon. He did not immediately respond to a telephone message and email.
Petition forms
The petition asks lawmakers to amend state law to prevent foreign government and interests from owning, operating or controlling Ohio power plants. The forms are legally non-binding and would not lead to any public vote or force a legislative vote.
Ohioans for Energy Security are suggesting, without proof, in its advertisements that the Chinese government is buying and taking over Ohio’s power grid and wants to close the nuclear plants.
The group points to Chinese bank loans to some natural-gas burning power plants. FirstEnergy Corp. also has loans from the Chinese bank.
Gene Pierce, spokesman for Ohioans Against Corporate Bailouts, said, “These petitions are another example of the dirty tricks that the House Bill 6 defenders will do to mislead the public”
Pierce had no reports of the forms being circulated in a location other than Columbus State.
“Having two petitions in the field on the same general topic makes it confusing to average voters,” Pierce said.
Ohioans Against Corporate Bailouts needs to obtain the valid signatures of 265,774 registered Ohio voters by Oct. 21 to place a referendum before voters on the November 2020 ballot.
If the referendum is certified to the ballot, it would delay the implementation of the law until the vote.
Signed into law by Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, House Bill 6 will impose an 85-cent monthly charge on most residential electricity bills to generate $150 million a year to subsidize the Lake Erie plants owned by FirstEnergy Solutions.
The bankrupt company threatened to close the plants without a subsidy, and will shut them down if the referendum qualifies for the ballot, a spokesman says.