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Ohio bill would bar utilities from billing customers for political spending
Summary
H.B. 467, introduced in the Ohio General Assembly, would prohibit public utilities from recovering political expenditures from customers, require annual reporting, authorize refunds and impose fines that would fund customer-assistance through the state percentage-of-income payment program.
A bill introduced in the Ohio General Assembly would bar public utilities from passing the cost of political expenditures to their customers, require annual public reporting of such spending, empower the Public Utilities Commission to order refunds and impose fines that would be used to help customers pay past-due utility bills.
H.B. 467, as introduced for the 2025-2026 regular session by Representative McNally and Representative Rader, would add sections 4933.51 through 4933.60 to the Ohio Revised Code to implement the prohibitions and related enforcement mechanisms.
The bill defines "political expenditure" to include contributions to candidates, parties, committees or ballot-issue campaigns; payments to trade associations and organizations described in Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)(6); dues to industry associations; expenditures for lobbying; expenses to influence public opinion about public policy or a utility's reputation; and "expenses incurred to fund any other political, charitable, or lobbying activity." The bill defines "public utility" by reference to existing Revised Code sections that govern electric and gas companies.
Under the proposal, no public utility may recover the cost of any political expenditure from customers through rates, riders, fees, tolls or other charges implemented under sections referenced in the bill. If the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio determines a utility improperly charged customers, the commission would order refunds plus interest and allocate refunds to customer classes in the same proportion as the original charges.
The bill directs the commission, after notice and hearing, to impose a fine equal to twenty times the amount unlawfully charged to customers. Those fines would be deposited into a new political activity fine fund in the state treasury. The Department of Development would administer the fund and distribute the money to customers through the percentage-of-income payment plan program created under section 4928.53 of the Revised Code, under rules the commission and the department must adopt.
H.B. 467 also would require each public utility to submit an annual electronic expenditure report, due Jan. 1 of each year, listing all political expenditures from the preceding 12 months with payee, amount and purpose. The commission must compile the reports into a single report, post the information on its website and submit the compiled report to the General Assembly by Feb. 1 each year.
The bill directs the Public Utilities Commission and the Department of Development to adopt implementing rules and specifies that rules adopted under the provision are not subject to the regulatory restriction provisions in section 121.95 of the Revised Code. The text does not include legislative votes, committee action or scheduled hearings.
As introduced, H.B. 467 would change the regulatory framework for how political spending by utilities is treated in consumer rates, create civil penalties and dedicate penalty proceeds to customer-assistance programs; further legislative action would be required for enactment.
