The residue of corruption from the FirstEnergy bribery scandal raises significant questions regarding proposed legislation purportedly devoted to encouraging energy efficiency and environmental protection.
House Bill 79, sponsored by Majority Floor Leader Rep. Bill Seitz, a longtime proponent of utility cash flow enrichment legislation, is challenged by opponents who doubt energy efficiency and environmental protection are the motivation for the proposal.
Everyone wants to contribute to reducing consumption of fossil fuel. But there is well-advised, widespread distrust of state government, especially the Public Utility Commission of Ohio, fueling opposition to the proposal.
It is a seemingly minor expense for such a vigorous clash.
HB 79 proposes to add $1.50 a month to electric bills to fund ratepayers’ conversions to more energy-efficient appliances or weatherization upgrades to cut consumption. Consumers could opt out of the fee — if they can navigate the system. But most of the 4.9 million ratepayers will simply pay the fee at a cost of $90 over the five-year life of the program.
That would add more than $400 million to the electric utilities bottom-line and assuming a price-earnings multiple of 15, less than their current multiples to be conservative, it supports $6.6 billion of market capitalization.
A far bigger bonanza is the “lost distribution revenue,” which reimburses the utility for the diminished cash flow caused by energy efficiency.
No Ohioan should trust the PUCO will adequately monitor that expense after watching them perform concierge service for the racketeers convicted of conspiring to provide a corrupt $1.3 billion benefit to FirstEnergy. HB 79 is likely headed to the same defeat that a version in the last session of the General Assembly suffered.
But the scandalous HB 6 didn’t pass the first time, either, so we must remain eternally vigilant to continuous state government attempts to afflict consumers in order to comfort campaign contributors. Ohio utilities are at the very top of that list.
Lawmakers who were actually working for citizens would make opt-in requirements mandatory for so-called “voluntary” programs. They would enact a provision to refund unlawful utility charges.
Since 2008, PUCO has approved more than $1 billion in electric rate increases ruled unlawful by the Ohio Supreme Court. There is nothing in Ohio law that requires refunds, so the utilities kept the money and enjoyed the same multiple boosting benefit to their stock value as described above.
HB 79 is smoking gun evidence that the Republican House caucus has not learned any lessons from the worst scandal in the history of Ohio and is intent upon a return to business as usual enabling utilities to plunder ratepayers.
