The group that was fighting to overturn Ohio's nuclear power plant bailout has dropped its case in court. That means the plan for additional fees on electric bills to subsidize nuclear and coal will carry forward next year.
Ohioans Against Corporate Bailouts wanted voters this fall to overturn the law that bails out nuclear plants, subsidizes coal plants, rolls back renewable energy standards, and eliminates energy efficiency programs.
Opponents of the referendum spent millions of dollars connecting the law’s opponents to Chinese interests and tracking petition circulators, which the referendum group sometimes characterized as harassment.
The referendum group also spent millions, but spokesman Gene Pierce says, in the end, the other side’s tactics proved to be too much of a challenge. "We always felt we had the issues with us, but the high level of spending, just the outrageous level of spending on the other side, made it so we couldn't see a clear way forward."
Neither Pierce’s group nor the group backing the bailout will have to disclose its donors.
