After much debate, Ohio House approves energy bill

By Marc Kovac

Gov. Strickland expressed his support for the bill, saying that it protected consumers.

COLUMBUS — The Ohio House overwhelmingly passed a long-debated energy bill Tuesday, after months of public hearings and more than a week of closed-door negotiations and legislative drama.

Speaker Jon Husted, a Republican from Kettering, told reporters after the floor vote that the final bill included benchmarks for advanced and renewable generation and energy conservation, as well as a “clear pathway” for utilities to compete in an open market.

Compromise language solidified consumer protections and other changes sought by Gov. Ted Strickland, Senate President Bill Harris and other groups.

“Those were things that were very important to me, to us, that needed to happen,” Husted said of the former. “But I also believe that there are safeguards in this bill that others wanted, that included things that the governor had asked for and things that consumer advocates had asked for that will help make sure that there is predictability and there is not rate shock.”

During a stop in Youngstown, Strickland expressed his support for the bill, saying that it protected consumers. He said the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio would review rate increases by utilities and could take action to prevent utilities from generating “excessive earnings.”

“Those are two words that are very important,” he said.

He added that consumers will see modest increases in prices but he doesn’t expect them to be close to the 50 percent to 70 percent increases seen in other states that approved deregulation.

The final vote on Sub. Senate Bill 221 was 93-1, with Republican Rep. Tom Patton from Strongsville opposing. Supporters included the minority members of the House’s Public Utilities Committee, who walked out of an after-midnight meeting early last week in disgust over the version of the legislation finalized by Republicans.

Later, after the Senate’s afternoon voting session, Harris told reporters his chamber would vote on the bill today.

“I’m waiting to look at it,” he said. “We’ve had lots of conversations. I suspect it’s got the content that the Speaker and I discussed. He’s worked very hard to get that language, and, as I’ve said all along, it’s my intention, if we can and our members are comfortable, we’ll concur with it.”