In its May 4 editorial, The Blade (Toledo) takes aim at Ohio’s House Bill 79 — a bipartisan bill whose sponsors say will promote energy efficiency. HB 79 could add more than $1.50 each month to electric bills to fund ratepayers’ conservation efforts or weatherization upgrades. Critics of the bill question if it was introduced “as a favor to FirstEnergy,” according to a separate Blade article. In its editorial, the newspaper states that HB 79 would add more than $400 million to electric utilities’ bottom-line — and that “no Ohioan should trust the PUCO” to monitor these charges following the commission’s oversight of House Bill 6 provisions. Watch for forthcoming analysis on this bill. 5/4/2023