Editorial: Lame duck top priority: Repeal House Bill 6

Events of last week should make the General Assembly’s priorities clear when lawmakers return for a post-election lame duck session: Repeal House Bill 6 outright. Then, when the next session begins in January, start considering an energy policy designed to benefit Ohioans rather than deep-pocketed utility corporations. 

Repeal of the bill, which provided a $1.3 billion bailout to a subsidiary of Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp., should have happened months ago, after the U.S. District Attorney’s office in July revealed allegations of a massive bribery scheme behind it.  Then-House Speaker Larry Householder and four associates were arrested and charged with federal counts of racketeering and bribery. 

But even though Republican Gov. Mike DeWine and several GOP lawmakers called for repeal and/or replacement, several bills to accomplish that are still sitting in House and Senate committees. 

After last week, very little doubt remains that passage of HB 6 was mired in corruption. On Thursday, two of the defendants in the case — Jefferey Longstreth, a longtime political strategist for Householder, and Juan Cespedes, a former lobbyist for FirstEnergy — entered “guilty” pleas as part of agreements to cooperate with the ongoing investigation. 

On the same day, FirstEnergy fired CEO Chuck Jones and two senior vice presidents, saying the three had violated the company’s policies and code of conduct. 

FirstEnergy, original parent to the company that now owns the two nuclear power plants set to receive the bailout, is not named in the July affidavit laying out the case. But information in the affidavit makes clear it is “Company A,” which the FBI says funneled more than $60 million into Generation Now, a dark money fund created by Longstreth and illegally controlled by Householder. 

Generation Now used the money to help elect House members who would support a FirstEnergy bailout bill and to fund an advertising blitz to pressure Senate members to vote for it after it passed the House. Then, when opponents launched a petition-gathering effort to overturn the bill via a ballot referendum, Generation Now paid for an unprecedented campaign of sabotage and dirty tricks that prevented the ballot effort from collecting enough signatures. 

U.S. Attorney Dave DeVillers has made clear that additional charges may be coming and could involve FirstEnergy. That’s the most direct reason to repeal HB 6 before ratepayers begin paying for the bailout as scheduled in January. 

The financial industry is concerned about FirstEnergy’s integrity; on Friday, S&P Global Ratings agency downgraded the company’s rating by two levels, to BB+, based on the firing of Jones and what FirstEnergy’s internal review found. “We view the severity of these violations at the highest level within the company as demonstrative of insufficient internal controls and cultural weakness,” the ratings company said, adding that the violations were “significantly outside” industry norms. 

Why should Ohio ratepayers be on the hook to bail such a company out until allegations are aired and resolved? 

Just as important, what HB 6 does beyond the bailout is terrible energy policy. Ohio already does foolishly little to invest in a clean-energy economy that could revitalize manufacturing and make the state a leader in fighting climate change. HB 6 essentially cancels Ohio’s few remaining clean-energy incentives, putting the state in an even weaker position. 

Ohio deserves better than an energy policy built on bribery and backwardness. Repeal HB 6 and start over.