Lawmakers are trying to figure out what to do with the nuclear power plant bailout tied to a racketeering scheme. They have until the end of the month to make a change before ratepayers see new charges on their electric bills. But several Republican legislators believe the energy law is still what's right for Ohio.
Rep. Dick Stein (R-Norwalk) says keeping the nuclear plants means saving jobs and retaining clean burning energy.
"It provides 90% of Ohio's carbon free energy generation in this state and 15% of its base load. Those are all policy reasons why we felt our I felt and I think other members felt HB6 was an advantage," Stein said.
That's why Stein supports a new bill in the House, HB798, that delays the bailout rather than repealing it. Stein says the bill gets rid of measures that would financially benefit FirstEnergy, such as the decoupling provision, and attaches additional auditing requirements is the right way to go.
"To assure the public that we're taking and doing our due diligence to make sure that the funding that we're offering to what is now Energy Harbor is appropriate," Stein.
The nuclear plants are owned by Energy Harbor, a former subsidiary of FirstEnergy known as FirstEnergy Solutions.
The bailout is linked to an alleged quid pro quo between a company believed to be FirstEnergy and Republican former House Speaker Larry Householder (R-Glenford).
Stein, who did not support Householder for speaker, says the policy remains sound despite the process.
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