Delaware County Review

State Representative Beth Lear, a Republican from Galena, has cast her vote in favor of House Bill 15. This bill is designed to enhance power generation in Ohio, aiming to improve affordability for ratepayers and increase the reliability of the state's electrical grid.

Representative Lear expressed concerns about federal management, stating, "We’ve had a compounding problem for years due to Federal mismanagement. They subsidize green energy and regulate everything else." She highlighted that inexpensive and reliable gas and coal power plants are being closed while over 80% of new energy production relies on what she described as expensive and unreliable wind and solar power.

House Bill 15 proposes several changes to strengthen Ohio's economy with reliable energy. It allows intrastate transmission to encourage market competition and enables local communities to apply for a "priority investment area" designation. This designation exempts companies from paying certain taxes on infrastructure for five years, promoting new energy development.

The bill also seeks to improve energy affordability by eliminating Electric Security Plans (ESP) options for utility companies. Instead, it requires them to approach the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) for rate cases. This change aims to close loopholes affecting ratepayer affordability. The bill mandates all Standard Service Offers (SSO) be Market Rate Offers (MRO), increasing transparency for consumers.

Additionally, House Bill 15 prohibits Electric Distribution Utilities (EDU) from bidding in the wholesale market with assets funded by distribution customers. It stops new collections for the Solar Generation Fund while settling existing agreements with current solar projects. Remaining funds will be refunded to ratepayers.

The legislation includes provisions like Multi-Year Rate Plans (MYRP) at PUCO and decreases Tangible Personal Property (TPP) tax rates on new generation equipment starting in tax year 2027. It also requires EDUs to update capacity heat maps on their websites and mandates annual stakeholder meetings by PUCO.

House Bill 15 introduces the Community Energy Pilot Program aimed at revitalizing brownfields and diversifying energy generation across Ohio communities.

As Ohio continues its growth as a tech hub attracting companies like Anduril, Honda, and Intel, this legislation addresses the high demand for electricity generation resulting from business expansion. Representative Lear stated that "House Bill 15 is aimed at eliminating subsidies, lowering costs for ratepayers, and rapidly increasing power generation," adding that it represents a tax cut on electric bills for nearly all Ohioans.

The bill now advances to the Ohio Senate for further consideration.