Senate Energy Committee approves substitute House Bill 15; supporters praise renewable siting language and urge deletion of refund limit

The Senate Energy Committee adopted a substitute version of House Bill 15 and voted to favorably report the bill to the committee on rules and reference following sponsor remarks and proponent testimony.

Sponsor Senator Reineke introduced substitute bill 0688-10 as a combination of Senate Bill 2 and House Bill 15 with clarifying language. Reineke said the substitute reduces the tangible personal property (TPP) tax on new generation and energy conversion equipment from 25% to 7%, defines "repower" to mean replacement of enough original production equipment so that at least 80% of the true value of the producing equipment derives from the newly installed equipment, and lowers the TPP tax on new transmission, distribution and pipeline infrastructure from 88% to 25%. The substitute, he said, preserves multi-year rate-making plans, maintains an immediate repeal of OVEC and riders, and keeps a solar generation fund with a carve-out that protects existing contract payments. Reineke also said the substitute retains an accelerated review process and PUCO shot clocks intended to shorten regulatory timelines.

Senator Cerino thanked the sponsor and committee leadership for adding the repowering definition, saying it clarified treatment for existing nuclear facilities and would help avoid an unintended tax outcome when those facilities undertake capital improvements.

Maureen Willis, testifying for the Ohio Consumers Council, said OCC supports much of HB 15 but urged the committee to delete a refund provision in the bill (she cited lines 606–619 in the draft). Willis said the bill as written would limit refunds to charges collected after a court ruling and could prevent consumers from recovering unlawful charges collected before the court decision. Willis referenced past cases in which consumers did not receive refunds after the Ohio Supreme Court found charges unlawful, saying one example involved a distribution modernization rider that she said left customers with $456,000,000 in charges despite a court ruling. Willis also described pending appeals involving AES stability charges and warned that the substitute bill’s refund limitation could foreclose refunds for customers if a court later rules against the charge. Willis read a quoted remark she attributed to a former PUCO chair: "And knowing that it ... would likely be found illegal and could not be refunded, I knew you would hold on to the funds." She urged the legislature to delete the refund limitation and instead rely on refundability written into PUCO-approved tariffs so consumers can recover past unlawful charges where law permits.

Rebecca Molino, policy associate for The Nature Conservancy in Ohio, testified in support of HB 15 and highlighted language in the substitute that creates priority investment areas for renewable energy. Molino said The Nature Conservancy's analysis identified more than 500,000 acres of former mine lands and brownfields in Ohio that could be suitable for utility-scale renewable development based on slope and distance to transmission, and said priority investment areas could help direct projects to those sites.

After discussion, Senator Reineke moved to adopt substitute bill 0688-10; the chair asked whether there were objections and the substitute was adopted without objection. Later, Vice Chair Landis moved that the committee favorably report substitute House Bill 15 to the committee on rules and reference. The motion passed on a roll call; the chair stated there were sufficient votes and directed members to sign the vote sheet. The committee recorded the adoption and the favorable report as the bill’s immediate committee actions.