Ohio spent six years cleaning up the damage from House Bill 6. Lawmakers should not need another scandal to remember the lesson.

House Bill 862 would put monopoly utilities back in the power plant business and revive a customer-backed risk model Ohio should have left behind. Manufacturers need reliable, affordable power, but Ohio does not need to abandon competition or put electric customers on the hook for utility-owned generation to get it.

The political signals are cautious at best. Rep. Bob Peterson, a co-sponsor, told Cleveland.com, “If the bill doesn’t go anywhere, we should at least have the discussion,” while House Speaker Matt Huffman has said he is “not in favor of going back to a time ratepayers pay the costs of any company.”

“Ohio manufacturers support reliable, affordable power, but HB 862 is the wrong model,” said Lindsey Short, OMA managing director of energy and advocacy services. “This bill would reopen the door to monopoly utility-owned generation and ask customers to carry risks that should belong to investors. Ohio can pursue new generation without repeating the mistakes of HB 6.”

OMA continues to urge lawmakers to protect competition, transparency and customers by keeping monopoly utilities out of the power plant business. 5/18/2026