Ohio House Passes Energy Generation Overhaul Legislation
COLUMBUS – The Ohio House of Representatives voted 90-3 in favor of House Bill 15 (Klopfenstein), announced State Representative Jamie Callender (R-Concord). House Bill 15 is a bipartisan effort to modernize Ohio’s energy infrastructure while providing increased transparency for consumers. Included in House Bill 15 are provisions aimed at expanding energy generation capacity through reduced tax burdens and streamlined regulatory review processes for new generation sites. Critically, the original language was amended to protect communities already hosting energy generation facilities.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, in 2023 Ohio had a net generation of 133,223,464 megawatt hours (MWh) while consumption was 146,640,983 MWhs. This continues a longstanding trend of Ohio needing to import energy to meet its consumption demands, having run a generation deficit for the last decade. While Ohio is on an upward trend with generation compacity, bottoming out in 2016 with only 118 million MWhs generated, Ohio generates less electricity today than it did in 2013 (133 million MWHs compared to 137 million MWhs).
To incentivize construction of new generation compacity, House Bill 15 lowers the Tangible Personal Property (TPP) tax rate on new generation and conversion equipment from 25% to 7% and reduces the TPP on transmission, distribution, and pipeline infrastructure from 88% to 25% starting in tax year 2027. This aligns Ohio’s tax rate with neighboring states.
During the committee process, several provisions included in the original draft of House Bill 15 were removed following input from both legislators and local communities. Among the provisions successfully removed from the bill was language that would have eliminated the TPP tax on existing generation facilities like the Perry Nuclear Power Plant. Tax Revenue from the Perry Nuclear Plant makes up a significant portion of revenues supporting the Perry Local Schools, the Perry Joint Fire District, as well as organizations across Lake County including the ADAMHS board and Lakeland Community College.
“In addition to providing fire and EMS services to residents and businesses within Perry Township, Village, and North Perry, the Perry Joint Fire District serves as mutual aid for the safety services at the Perry Nuclear Power Plant,” said Dominic Chiappone, Fire Chief for the Perry Joint Fire District. “This requires additional training for our firefighters and added equipment for our ready bags. Had the revenue from the plant dried up, our mission would remain the same but the resources to support our local communities would have been significantly reduced.”
“When I decided to return to the Ohio General Assembly in 2018, one of my primary reasons for running was to protect the Perry Nuclear Power Plant,” said Callender. “The plant supports hundreds of good paying jobs for the residents of Lake County while acting as a significant tax base for local and countywide services. I want to thank the community members, local and county officials, and my fellow legislators who joined me in successfully advocating to maintain the tax rate on the plant.”
House Bill 15 now awaits additional hearings in the Ohio Senate.