A group has officially filed its first round of signatures calling for a referendum on Ohio’s new energy law that bails out nuclear plants and scraps green energy policies. They hope to put the issue on the 2020 ballot.
Ohioans Against Corporate Bailouts organized to fight the law that subsidizes FirstEnergy Solutions’ two nuclear plants through a new fee on monthly electric bills.
The law also props up two struggling coal plants, creates subsidies for solar farms, and rolls back policies that required investment in renewable energy and energy efficiency.
The group’s Gene Pierce acknowledges that utility policies are complicated.
“But the impact of it, the bottom line, wallet, pocketbook impact of it, is pretty simple. There’s an increased cost that many Ohioans are gonna have to pay to bailout some unprofitable investments that a major company made,” Pierce said.
Pierce said the group is not disclosing any specific supporters of its effort at this point.
