(Michael Williams/Getty Images)
By Collin Cunningham
(COLUMBUS, Ohio) On March 3, Ohio senators voted unanimously to remove the $1 billion bailout initiative for the state's two nuclear power plants from House Bill 6, the controversial 2019 energy bill that was at the center of last year's scandal concerning former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder (R-Glenford), cleveland.com reports.
Senators say the bailout will no longer be necessary now that Energy Harbor Corp., the current owner of Ohio's only nuclear plants, has resurfaced from bankruptcy proceedings.
Senate Bill 44 is the name of the new legislature that cuts the bailout out of the energy bill, and is co-sponsored by Senators Jerry Cirino, R-Kirtland, and Michael Rulli, R-Salem, according to The News-Herald. Last year, that bailout resulted in a corruption investigation when Householder and four other house members were accused of a $60 million bribery and racketeering scheme involving the nuclear energy subsidies.
“While not familiar with the details of their current financial position, it would be a reasonable assumption to believe that (Energy Harbor's) financial condition is improved as a result of the bankruptcy proceedings,” Cirino told the News-Herald. “There are also indications that the energy policies which appear to be brewing in Washington will present a friendlier environment supporting the continued utilization of these nuclear assets."
The bailout would have assisted Energy Harbor, formerly the Akron-based FirstEnergy Solutions, in maintaining operations at Perry Nuclear Power Plant near Cleveland and Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station near Toledo, which cost $6 billion and $2.7 billion to build, respectively. The plan was to raise $170 million a year through a new monthly surcharge that would have been added to Ohio residents' bills, Vox reported in 2019.
"This is something that I feel will undo an awful lot of damage that has been done, not only to our institution, but to the whole state of Ohio," Sen. Rob McColley, R-Napoleon, stated on the Senate floor after Senate Bill 44 was passed, according to cleveland.com.
House Bill 6 was passed in July 2019 in response to FirstEnergy's claims that its pair of power plants weren't earning enough money, and they would have to be shut down unless the company received some sort of government subsidization. Householder was arrested the following July, after a yearlong federal investigation that ultimately determined the former speaker and his associates had received $60 million from the company formerly known as FirstEnergy Solutions as incentive to get the bill passed.
While Householder decided to plead not guilty to the corruption charges, two others who were accused along with him have plead guilty.
Under the new Senate Bill 44, the rest of House Bill 6 is slated to stay in place, including $20 million in subsidies for Ohio's solar power companies, The News-Herald states. That money will help lower residents' solar power fees from 85 cents to 10 cents per month and reduce the monthly fees that industrial customers pay from $2,400 to $242.