Ohio judge blocks nuclear bailout fees from House Bill 6

A Franklin County judge blocked fees that were to be tacked onto Ohioans’ electric bills as part of the House Bill 6 $1 billion nuclear plant bailout.

Franklin County Judge Chris Brown granted a preliminary injunction Dec. 20 blocking fees that were to be collected beginning in January to subsidize the state’s two nuclear power plants.

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost filed a lawsuit in Franklin County Common Pleas Court Dec. 18 to block the fees that would have amounted to about $150 million a year. That money would have gone to Energy Harbor, the former FirstEnergy Corp. subsidiary that owns the Davis-Besse and Perry nuclear plants.

“Today’s ruling proves that the powerful can be held accountable and that corruption will be rooted out,” Yost said in a statement Dec. 20. “Everybody who pays an electric bill whether for their own home or a job-sustaining manufacturer, is the winner today. Your pocket will not be picked.”

Lawmakers are still considering ways to repeal and replace House Bill 6, which federal authorities alleged became law as part of a bribery scheme involving FirstEnergy and former House Speaker Larry Householder.

In addition to the nuclear bailout, HB 6 gutted the state’s renewable energy and energy efficiency standards for utilities and gave out subsidies for coal plants and large utility scale solar farms.