Reps. Brennan, Dean Reintroduce Bipartisan Legislation Repealing, Refunding HB 6 Corruption Fee to Ohioans

COLUMBUS – State Reps. Sean Patrick Brennan (D-Parma) and Levi Dean (R-Xenia) today announced that they have introduced House Bill (HB) 66. HB 66 is identical to HB 120 from the 135th General Assembly, calling for a full repeal and refunding of 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.”

“This bipartisan bill is about fairness, competition, and lower costs for consumers. By eliminating costly subsidies that distort the market, we’re ensuring that energy prices are driven by innovation and efficiency—not government favoritism. This approach will lead to more affordable energy for families and businesses alike,” said Rep. Dean.

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 HB 128 from the 134th GA repealed the nuclear bailout portion of HB 6 that is at the center of the largest bribery scandal in Ohio’s history.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 recently 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 ;

Recently, a larger energy package, known as HB 15, was introduced that includes a repeal of the OVEC subsidies. However, under that bill, the removal of the subsidies does not go into effect upon passage of the measure. In fact, the subsidies could go on for several more years. Further, HB 15 does not require refunding what ratepayers have already paid to OVEC.

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.