Strickland plans to veto Ohio House energy plan

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Ohio Governor Ted Strickland (D-Lisbon)

Large rate increases followed deregulation in other states.

COLUMBUS (AP) — Gov. Ted Strickland said Friday he would veto the Ohio House’s energy plan if it passes the Legislature in its current form because he believes it will expose consumers to hefty rate increases.

Strickland said the plan spearheaded by Republican House Speaker Jon Husted would not protect consumers against unwarranted or unjust electricity rate increases. He also said it would allow FirstEnergy Corp. to immediately go to an unregulated market, putting customers in northern Ohio at risk of large rate increases.

“I am today announcing that I would veto the bill if it passes in its current form because it would threaten our ability to both keep and create jobs in Ohio,” he said in a news release.

Without action on an energy plan by next year, Ohio is set to go to a market driven by open competition — a major driver behind the energy bill after lawmakers saw other states that deregulated their electricity markets experience large rate increases.

Husted’s bill takes a hybrid approach in some cases between a regulated market and an open market. Strickland said he opposes the plan because it enables utilities to have “unfettered” access to open market pricing.

Husted defended the bill as addressing the concerns Strickland had when he initially proposed his own energy plan last year.

“We will send the governor a bill that is dramatically better than current law,” Husted said in a statement released Friday. “We hope he will choose to sign it.”

Strickland also has other concerns but praises the parts of the plan that would require utilities to produce a certain amount of electricity using renewable sources. Husted’s bill establishes modest requirements for renewable energy, such as wind and solar, in 2009 that gradually ramp up to a threshold of 12.5 percent by 2025.

Husted released the energy plan Thursday after months of hearings in the House. The Senate has already passed a version of the bill.

Others joined the governor in criticizing the House plan, including manufacturers, advocates for low-income residential consumers and Democratic lawmakers.

“It’s a rate-hiker and a job killer that puts money into the pockets of utilities and advocates the kinds of policies that will cost consumers plenty,” said Rep. Jennifer Garrison, a Marietta Democrat.

A hearing on the House Republican plan was held Friday, with another scheduled for Monday. Husted has said he would like to see the full House vote on the bill sometime next week and has said the bill will continue to be refined.