Statehouse News Bureau

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Nuclear Bailout Opponents End Their Referendum Attempt

By Andy Chow

Published January 22, 2020 at 8:57 PM EST

Petitioner gathering signatures for HB6 referendum in the summer of 2019. [Andy Chow / Statehouse News Bureau] — Petitioner gathering signatures for HB6 referendum

The group fighting to overturn Ohio's nuclear power plant bailout has dropped its federal court case and the plan for additional fees on electric bills to subsidize nuclear and coal power will carry forward.

Ohioans Against Corporate Bailouts Jan. 21 filed a motion in the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals to have its case dismissed. The group wanted more time to gather petition signatures in the attempt to overturn House Bill 6.

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 trying to connect Ohioans Against Corporate Bailouts to Chinese government interests. Generation Now, a group that opposed the referendum, hired people to track petition circulators, which the referendum group characterized as harassment.

Ohioans Against Corporate Bailouts also spent millions but in the end, they said 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," said Gene Pierce, the spokesman for Ohioans Against Corporate Bailouts. The aggressive tactics by opponents set a bad precedent, he said.

“It really set a low standard for factual debate and it made our margin of error zero for getting this petition drive done,” Pierce said.

Neither Pierce’s group nor the group backing the bailout will have to disclose the names of their donors.

HB6 was signed by Gov. Mike DeWine in July 2019 and went into effect in October 2019. The law is expected to generate $150 million in annual subsidies to bolster for the state's two nuclear power plants, through increased rates on electric bills. The law also will allow an additional charge of up to $1.50 on monthly electric bills to subsidize two coal plants, Kyger Creek (Gallia County) and Clifty Creek (Madison, IN).