Ohio nuclear bailout bill needs work - and more scrutiny: editorial

Slow it down.

The proposed Ohio nuclear bailout bill -- which also seeks to monkey with other aspects of Ohio’s energy future -- is too consequential to rush into passage this week.

Many Ohio lawmakers are trying to wrap up work on House Bill 6 on FirstEnergy’s schedule -- by Sunday.

They need to take the extra time to understand extensive recent changes to the bill and also its full cost implications. The last thing Ohioans want is to be stung with a noncompetitive energy bill that will cost all of us dearly in the future, in lost jobs and lost energy opportunities and higher-than-anticipated ratepayer costs.

Akron’s FirstEnergy Solutions, the FirstEnergy Corp. subsidiary likely to become independent once it clears bankruptcy proceedings, has said its two Ohio nuclear plants -- Davis-Besse east of Toledo and Perry east of Cleveland -- will shut without a ratepayer bailout.

Read more: https://www.cleveland.com/opinion/2019/06/ohio-nuclear-bailout-bill-needs-work-and-more-scrutiny-editorial.html