Rep. Brennan to Reintroduce Legislation Repealing, Refund HB 6 Corruption Fee to Ohioans

COLUMBUS – State Rep. Sean Patrick Brennan (Parma) today announced he will soon reintroduce House Bill (HB) 120 from the 135th General Assembly which would fully repeal and refund subsidies being paid by Ohioans to bail out two unprofitable Ohio Valley Electric Corporation (OVEC) coal-fired power plants – one of which is located in Indiana. The subsidies were established in HB 6 of the 133rd General Assembly. 

“My duty as an elected official is to serve honorably and make the lives of those I serve better. This legislation serves both goals by eliminating the vestiges of a bill born out of corruption, and providing residents with some needed financial relief,” said Rep. Brennan. “Protecting Ohio families should be a goal of all public servants. To that end, I hope that we can find bipartisan support for this bill.”                                          

To date, Ohio families have been on the hook for approximately $150M each year in fees paid to OVEC, and if left untouched, Ohioans will pay roughly $1.1B in costs by 2030. HB 128 from the 134th GA repealed the nuclear bailout portion of HB 6 that is at the center of the largest bribery scandal in Ohio’s history. However, Ohio families continue to prop up OVEC’s two failing coal-fired power plants to the tune of  $445,679 every day.                                                                                                                                                                 

The bill’s announcement comes after Ohio Governor Mike DeWine this week declared his support for repeal of the remaining parts of the corrupt legislation. 

Additionally, it follows two indictments of two former FirstEnergy officials, former CEO Chuck Jones and ex- Senior Vice President Michael Dowling, by a federal grand jury for racketeering involving more than $60M in bribery to pass HB 6, which also included the $1B power plant bail out. 

This bill would: 

• Terminate and repeal the customer-paid subsidies to two OVEC coal facilities 
• Require full repayments of all revenues collected from Ohioans to date
• Prevent future customer-paid subsidies to two OVEC coal facilities 

Bipartisan efforts to repeal these charges were pursued during the 134th GA, and had the support of the Ohio Consumers’ Council, Ohio Manufacturers’ Association, the Environmental Law and Policy Center, and other groups. This bill will be formally introduced soon.