Ohio bill would offer rebates for some electric customers

A bill that passed the Ohio House with bipartisan support aims to restore some energy rebates that were removed when the controversial House Bill 6 became law.

The rebates would be available for anyone who uses energy-efficient appliances. Under House Bill 79, any residential customer would pay a monthly charge on their electric bill of up to $1.50 a month.

For nonresidential customers, such as businesses and farms, the fee up to $7.50 a month. Those fees are supposed to be offset, and more, by rebates for energy-efficient appliances.

“What we’re going to do is try to bring those prices to market value, that it actually makes it affordable, so that it makes it an easy choice, so that if you buy the more energy efficient appliance, that can actually be a reality,” said Bride Sweeney, Ohio State Representative for District 16.

Consumers will have two chances to opt-out by mail. If they miss those chances, they’re locked in.

According to the Northwest Ohio Aggregation Coalition, customers will be trapped in the programs and forced to pay these expenses whether they participate in the program or not.

“Apartment dwellers, people that are staying home all the time, the people who already turned there thermostat down on a hot day, those people are getting no benefits from these programs,” said Thomas Hays, attorney for Northwest Ohio Aggregation Coalition.

Plus, the coalition says the program is redundant because of a similar federal program.

The Office of the Ohio’s consumer counsel says quote, Ohioans can obtain energy efficiency without involvement of monopoly utilities who will profit at consumer expense from the programs in this bill. And Ohioans can obtain energy efficiency without the charges on their electric bills that will result from HB 79.

Sweeney says the bill is all about empowering consumers.

“Every single time that we’ve been in this situation, it is Ohio taxpayers and ratepayers and oftentimes both that are picking up the tab. And if we can find a way to more efficiently use the energy we are, it’s going to be best for us in the short term and the long term,” said Sweeney.

The bill would still need to clear the Senate, so it would be several months before it could pass.