COLUMBUS — A bailout for nuclear power plants?
“It is the white elephant in the room, isn’t it?” said Rep. Jamie Callender (R., Concord).
An Ohio House committee wasted little time beginning hearings Tuesday on a bill introduced Friday to financially reward the generation of electricity in Ohio that emits no or little carbon pollution while eliminating current law requiring utilities to find more renewable sources for their power and reduce energy consumption overall.
The state’s two nuclear power plants on the shore of Lake Erie — Davis-Besse, 30 miles east of Toledo, and Perry, 40 miles east of Cleveland —would be expected to get roughly half of the $300 million to be generated from new surcharges on customers’ bills.
“Do the nuclear plants in northern Ohio benefit from this? Absolutely, yes,” said Mr. Callender, one of the sponsors of House Bill 6. “Will it save the nuclear plants? I have no idea, but they will benefit from it.”
The bill would impose surcharges on all electric utility customers in the state — $2.50 a month for the typical residential consumer. But the proposal’s backers say that the same residential customer would ultimately save money — $1.89 a month on average — because charges currently associated with those renewable and energy efficiency mandates would be removed from their bills.
The measure would provide a credit of $9.25, to be adjusted annually for inflation, for each megawatt hour of carbon-free electricity generated. Together, the two nuclear power plants generate on average 16 million megawatts of power a year, 90 percent of the zero-carbon energy produced in the state.
While nearly all legislative committees have taken Holy Week off, a House subcommittee created specifically to consider this bill will hear from its supporters on Wednesday. House Speaker Larry Householder (R., Glenford) hopes to get a bill to Gov. Mike DeWine’s desk before lawmakers recess for the summer by June 30.
The plants’ owner, FirstEnergy Solutions, is currently in bankruptcy proceedings after going all-in on nuclear and coal-fired power plants just as natural gas prices plummeted with the hydraulic fracturing boom. It has announced plans to close the two nuclear plants because they’ve been unable to economically compete.
While the bill would allow other zero-emissions generators of power like wind and solar to compete for the credits, Rep. David Leland (D., Columbus) questioned what appear to be restrictions on both if they’ve benefited from state credits and tax exemptions.
“Who’s left in the state of Ohio that’s going to be eligible for this particular credit?” he asked.
Rep. Shane Wilkin (R., Hillsboro), also a bill sponsor, said that language was designed to prevent out-of-state generators of power from benefiting from Ohio’s credits. He and Mr. Callender said they are open to further refining the language.
“We’re concerned with Ohio generation,” Mr. Callender said.
The bill also specifies that only solar fields generating 50 megawatts or more of power would be eligible to participate. There is currently no field in Ohio generating that much, although there are proposals in the pipeline.
“This bill is nowhere close to being a comprehensive approach to Ohio’s energy future in the best interest of consumers,” said Ted Ford, president of Ohio Advanced Energy Economy. “Instead it significantly increases rates on all consumers to the tune of $300 million annually and directs nearly $180 million of hard-earned ratepayer dollars into the coffers of FirstEnergy Solutions.”
First Published April 16, 2019, 5:51 p.m.