Chavez Leads Passage of 21st Century Energy Policy

COLUMBUS—The Ohio Senate overwhelmingly passed Senate Bill 2, a new 21st Century power policy that is reliable, affordable, and accountable to Ohio.

As chairman of the Senate Energy Committee, Senator Chavez (R-Marietta) spearheaded the priority legislation which  energizes and maximizes Ohio’s power industry by putting the focus on projects that generate baseload power, which is the demand needed to power homes, businesses, and industry across the state every day.

“Ohio is well positioned to contribute baseload power in part due to significant access to clean natural gas as a reliable and affordable fuel source,” said Senator Chavez. “Senate Bill 2 incentivizes new baseload generation projects by reducing the tangible personal property tax (TPP) on electricity generation project and the infrastructure associated with those projects.”

The bill also provides additional accountability to consumers by repealing Electric Security Plans(ESP’s) which are also known as “riders.” This has been a way to charge consumers more without necessarily making the case for why an energy company needed additional funds.

This legislation repeals the riders altogether, in favor of a traditional rate case format, where the energy company would have to fully disclose its financials to the Public Utility Commission before a rate increase would be approved.

Senate Bill 2 also establishes Priority Investment Areas (PIA’s) for new power generation projects. This is key to revitalizing brownfields as well as decommissioned coal power plant sites for new generation projects.

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