The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Nuclear bill opponents drop federal appeal
Ohio Supreme Court case expected to be withdrawn
The effort to repeal an Ohio bill that subsidizes the state’s two nuclear power plants appears to be all but dead.
The effort to repeal an Ohio bill that subsidizes the state’s two nuclear power plants appears to be all but dead after opponents asked for a voluntary dismissal of their federal appeal.
Ohioans Against Corporate Bailouts Jan. 21 filed a motion in the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals to have its case dismissed.
The group was seeking more time to gather signatures to place an issue on the November 2020 general election ballot asking voters whether to overturn the bill.
“We have moved to dismiss our suit in federal court, as we could see no clear path to a successful petition drive,” Ohioans Against Corporate Bailouts spokesperson Gene Pierce said in a Jan. 22 email. “The committee will now stand down.”
House Bill 6 was signed into law by Gov. Mike DeWine last July and went into effect in October. Charges paid by residential, commercial and industrial customers will generate an estimated $170 million a year. Of that total, $150 million annually will go to the Perry and Davis-Besse nuclear power plants. The other $20 million is earmarked to support six solar energy projects in Ohio. The nuclear plants will receive money between 2021 and 2027.
The former FirstEnergy Solutions, which is emerging from bankruptcy as Energy Harbor, threatened to close the plants without receiving subsidies.
The North Perry-based Perry Nuclear Power Plant employs about 700 people.
In the Sixth Circuit Court, Ohioans Against Corporate Bailouts was seeking judges to overturn U.S. Southern Ohio District Judge Edmund A. Sargus Jr.’s decision to deny the group an extension to collect signatures.
Ohioans Against Corporate Bailouts announced Oct. 21 — the deadline to submit petitions to the Ohio Secretary of State’s office — that it did not have enough signatures. The group was seeking a court ruling to give them an additional 38 days to circulate petitions.
Petitioners in Ohio have 90 days from the governor’s signing of a bill to submit the required number of valid signatures to put a referendum on the statewide ballot.
Ohioans Against Corporate Bailouts could not begin circulating petitions until it received approval of the proposed ballot language summary from the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office. The group’s initial attempt was rejected, but a second attempt was approved.
The group is arguing that the 38 days taken by the ballot language approval process is an unconstitutional restriction of free speech.
Sargus referred questions related to the petition process to the Ohio Supreme Court. The federal judge wrote in an order issued late Oct. 23 that the window to circulate petitions is only prescribed in the Ohio, not federal, constitution. The Ohio Supreme Court agreed on Dec. 24 to hear arguments on that case.
Ohioans Against Corporate Bailouts was to file a brief to the Ohio Supreme Court within 40 days of its decision.
“Our lawyers tell me the committee will withdraw from the Supreme Court case later this week as well,” Pierce said.
Ohio Rep. Jamie Callender, R-Concord Township, was one of the sponsors of House Bill 6. He said he’s pleased with the news. Callender said it removes “a cloud of uncertainty” for the entities that rely on tax money from the plants, such as Perry Schools.
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.