Legislation that would end subsidies for two aging Ohio River Valley coal plants — a vestige of a sprawling public corruption scandal in Ohio — is a step closer to Gov. Mike DeWine’s desk.
The state House and Senate have each passed separate versions of bills that make numerous changes to Ohio utility law. Among them, the repeal of a provision authorizing utilities, including American Electric Power and Duke Energy, to charge customers to support the 1,304-megawatt Clifty Creek plant and the 1,086-MW Kyger Creek plant.
Lawmakers must reconcile differences in House and Senate versions before it goes to the governor. But if enacted, the measure would end more than a decade of ratepayer support for the Ohio Valley Electric Corp. (OVEC), a utility consortium that owns and operates the plants.
A move by the Ohio Legislature to pull the plug on subsidies would be an about-face from six years ago when lawmakers folded them into H.B. 6, which increased electricity rates and was at the center of a bribery scandal that sent former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder to prison.
