New Ohio Bill Would Prohibit Utilities *And Affiliates* From Owning Generation

A newly filed bill in the Ohio House of Representatives (H. B. No. 247) would provide that, beginning on January 1, 2019, no electric utility and no entity affiliated with that utility may own and control any installed generation capacity located in Ohio

The bill would require electric utilities to file a market power mitigation plan providing for any of the following, to be completed by December 31, 2018:

(1) The sale of generation assets owned and controlled by the utility or by an affiliated entity to a nonaffiliated entity;

(2) The exchange of generation assets with a nonaffiliated entity located in another state;

(3) The auction of generation capacity entitlements as part of a capacity auction;

(4) The sale of the right to capacity to a nonaffiliated entity for at least four years, beginning on January 1, 2019;

(5) Any reasonable method of mitigation for divestiture of generation assets

H. B. No. 247 would also provide that no electric utility shall provide a competitive retail electric service if that service was deemed competitive or otherwise legally classified as competitive prior to the effective date of the relevant section of the bill. Notwithstanding the above provision, the utility would continue to provide a Standard Service Offer

Currently, statute allows utilities to offer a competitive retail electric service under an approved corporate separation plan

H. B. No. 247 would revise the statute such that no electric utility shall engage in, either directly or through an affiliate, the businesses of supplying a noncompetitive retail electric service only (deleting authorization to offer a competitive retail electric service) and supplying a product or service other than retail electric service, unless the utility implements and operates under a corporate separation plan that is approved by the public utilities commission

HB 247 would also allow customers to obtain refunds of utility charges that have been collected from customers, if the Supreme Court of Ohio finds the charges to be improper.