Reps. Sweeney, Seitz Provide Sponsor Testimony on Bipartisan Bill to Lower Ohioans' Utility Bills

COLUMBUS – State Rep. Bride Rose Sweeney (D-Westlake) and Majority Floor Leader Bill Seitz (R-Cincinnati) yesterday provided sponsor testimony on House Bill (HB) 79 to the Senate Energy and Public Utilities Committee. The bipartisan legislation aims to save Ohioans money on their electric bills and reduce energy consumption at peak demand by incentivizing Ohio utility companies to create voluntary energy saving programs. 

“Ohio families are facing an affordability crisis–from the rising cost of eggs to childcare to energy–the cost to live, work, and raise a family in Ohio is getting precipitously higher and our constituents need help,” said Rep. Sweeney. “HB 79 is a significant, concrete step we can take to help make Ohioans’ lives just a little bit more affordable.” 

Energy efficiency programs are designed to reduce the energy we waste heating and cooling our homes or running electric appliances. Under HB 79, Ohio utility companies would offer customers discounts and rebates on appliances, lighting, and weatherization services to encourage them to replace old inefficient products with newer versions that use less energy. Consumers would have multiple opportunities not to participate in the voluntary energy savings programs and each year the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) would review each program for cost-effectiveness to ensure the programs are fair, transparent, and accountable to consumers. 

Ohioans would stand to save money in three ways: 

1. 1. Ohio ratepayers who participate would save money directly by receiving discounts on energy efficiency products and lower monthly bills due to lower energy usage,
2. All ratepayers, even those who choose not to participate in the programs, will pay lower rates because utility companies will be able to buy less energy at cheaper rates, and,
3. Ohio taxpayers will save money because using less energy will put less strain on Ohio’s electric grid so we won’t have to spend even more money updating existing infrastructure or building new delivery systems.

Ohio used to have similar energy efficiency programs that were eliminated several years ago. According to the PUCO, these old programs generated a total savings for consumers of more than $7B statewide over a 10-year period. HB 79 improves upon these now defunct programs to ensure that the new programs will be more targeted and more effective–which will, in turn, save Ohioans even more money over time.

HB 79 now awaits proponent testimony in the Senate Energy and Public Utilities Committee.