House Bill 247 Protects Functioning Electricity Markets

State Rep. Mark Romanchuk (R-Mansfield) presented sponsor testimony for House Bill 247 this week to a packed session of the House Public Utilities Committee. The bill would reform statutes that have led to huge above-market electricity costs for Ohio consumers.

“House Bill 247 is pro-consumer, pro-business, and pro-markets,” Rep. Romanchuk said. “It creates an environment conducive to continued business investment, economic growth and job creation.”

The OMA and a coalition of consumer groups support the legislation that would: 1) Enable customers to obtain refunds of utility charges that have been collected from customers, if the Supreme Court of Ohio finds the charges to be improper, 2) Eliminate “electric security plans” that enable utilities to charge customers above-market prices for electricity generation, and 3) Clarify in the law that utilities and their affiliate organizations cannot own generation and, therefore, cannot layer generation-related charges on consumers’ electric bills.

Here is the coalition’s summary of the bill.

Contact OMA’s Ryan Augsburger to learn how you can support the effort. 6/22/2017