H.B. 15 Proposes Largescale Changes to Ohio’s Energy Landscape

Ohio legislators just unveiled a plan to address forecasts that Ohio could face an energy shortfall in the near future. Introduced on Thursday, January 23, 2025. H.B. 15, sponsored by Rep. Roy Klopfenstein (R-Haviland), touches on a number of energy policy areas designed to address a quickly evolving energy and utility landscape.

For months, stakeholders have debated if Ohio has enough generation to power several large economic development projects and what steps might be needed to address such an issue. As expected, many divergent viewpoints emerged on how big the problem might be and how to address it. The introduction of H.B. 15 started the formal debate.

Below are some highlights of the proposed changes:

• Repeal of subsidies enacted in H.B. 6 (2019). Ohio already repealed H.B. 6’s nuclear subsidies after a federal investigation resulted in multiple arrests and convictions. Federal and state investigations are still ongoing. Despite the repeal of the nuclear subsidies, additional subsidies for select solar projects and the Ohio Valley Electric Corporation (OVEC) remained in law. OVEC is the holding company that owns and operates two 1950s era, coal-fired power plants, originally built to supply power to the uranium enrichment facility in Piketon, Ohio. The nuclear subsidies were repealed, but the OVEC and solar subsidies were not. Critics have long contended that the subsidies are costing Ohio ratepayers far too much to keep the aging OVEC facilities in operation.
• B. 15 prohibits electric distribution companies from owning generation or bidding into wholesale markets using ratepayer funds. Ohio largely deregulated its generation market in 1999. This provision reinforces Ohio’s competitive market.
• Transfers the Tangible Property Tax from generation facilities to transmission and distribution systems.
• The legislation proposes repealing electric security plans (ESPs) and instead requires an electric distribution utility (EDU) to offer a standard service offer (SSO) only as a market-rate offer (MRO) instead of the rates established by the ESP. Critics contend that utilities utilize ESPs to avoid full rate cases and to establish non-bypassable riders that raise costs for ratepayers.
• For Competitive Retail Electric Suppliers (CRES) and Competitive Natural Gas Suppliers (CRNGS), H.B. 15 proposes additional changes in particular for customer notifications if the CRES or CRNGS offer an introductory rate that converts to a variable rate
• B. 15 establishes a consumer choice billing program, maintained by the PUCO. The consumer choice billing program permits consolidated billing by a supplier for all electric or natural gas charges and requires enhanced consumer protections for consumers who utilize consolidated billing.

A Senate bill, S.B. 2, sponsored by Senate President Pro Tempore Bill Reineke (R-Tiffin), was also recently introduced. S.B. 2 is currently a “placeholder” stating “The General Assembly declares its intent to provide increased power generation and improved affordability and reliability for Ohio's electric grid.”

No doubt, we expect both bills to garner plenty of attention and undergo many changes. House leaders have already said they want to move forward  with this proposal quickly. Our government relations team is monitoring this closely. In addition, members of our energy and economic development teams are also engaged.

Watch this space as the legislation evolves, and we will provide additional updates.