A group is gathering signatures to put a rejection of Ohio's nuclear bailout law on next year's ballot. National environmental groups are weighing in on the debate, saying the energy policy overhaul takes Ohio in the opposite direction of most other states.
House Bill 6 bails out Ohio’s two nuclear power plants and ensures two coal plants will continue to run through hundreds of millions of dollars in subsidies.
The bill also rolled back renewable energy requirements for utilities and eliminated energy efficiency mandates - something Dick Munson, with the Environmental Defense Fund, says goes against the national trend.
"The message has been from the states over the last several months particularly since the Trump administration began is that the states were the place for innovation," Munson said. "They were embracing renewables and energy efficiency."
But supporters of the law say the green energy standards were expensive, so this will reduce electric bills. They also say the law will save the state's largest source of non-carbon energy, nuclear power. Opponents are trying to put the law on next year’s ballot for voters to decide.
