Ohio House Bill 6 is one of the points of negotiation that has helped hold up the budget past its due date of June 30th. That also happens to be the deadline set by FirstEnergy Solutions, which runs the plants that may be shut down.
The bill is intended to “bail out” nuclear power plants, though it’s more complicated than that.
Under HB6, every taxpayer would be charged at minimum $1 per month until 2026 to create a “clean air” fund. This would cost consumers at least $198 million a year, totaling around $1.39 billion over the lifetime of the bill. Most of this money would go towards bailing out the two nuclear facilities owned by FirstEnergy.
However, the bill does end energy-efficiency and renewable-energy surcharges, which would save Ohio residents $4.39 per month on their electricity bill.
The bill also:
- Allows the Ohio Valley Electric Corporation to charge its customers up to $2.50 per month – pending approval of state regulators — to subsidize two OVEC coal-fired power plants, one in Ohio, the other in Indiana.
- Allows residents in unincorporated areas of townships to call for a referendum on whether to allow or block a state-approved wind-energy project in their area – even in cases in which construction has already started.
- Made six large-scale solar power projects already certified by the Ohio Power Siting Board eligible for subsidies under the proposed “clean-air” fund.
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