Wilson Praises 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. State Senator Steve Wilson (R-Maineville) voted in favor of the bill.

"Modernizing Ohio's energy policy is a great moment for our state," said Senator Wilson. "As our energy needs increase, making sure that Ohio is able to meet the power generation required sets our state up for success for years to come."
 
As a piece of priority legislation for the Senate, this bill 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.

The bill also revises the state's outdated tax structure on energy production.

“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 Senate Energy Chairman Brian 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.”
 
In addition, the bill provides greater 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 and even decommissioned coal power plant sites for new generation projects.

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