The Chinese Government, Corporate Bailouts, Nuclear Power, and Assault: A Day in the Life of Ohio’s HB 6

Ohio’s House Bill 6, which creates the “Ohio Clean Air Program,” passed this year and is effective October 22. HB 6 directs utilities to add a monthly charge to customers’ bills that goes into a nuclear energy fund that utilities with nuclear power plants can draw from. Critics called the bill a bailout for First Energy, which operates the only two nuclear power plants in the state (located near Sandusky and east of Cleveland along the Lake Erie shore). The bill also decreases the percentage of energy required to come from renewable resources in Ohio.

A recent Dayton Daily News article explains some of the unusual things now happening with HB 6. There is a group circulating petitions in Ohio to put a repeal of HB 6 on the ballot for voters to decide in 2020. Recently in the Columbus area, an assault was reported by a member of the group circulating the petition by a member of a group against the petition. There are also a number of television ads and mailers decrying the Chinese government as the force behind the repeal effort.

What now? 265,774 valid voter signatures are needed in at least 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties by Oct. 21 to qualify for the November 2020 ballot. If the issue makes the ballot, the law will be held in abeyance until Ohio voters decide whether to repeal it.