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PUCO chair urges net‑metering expansion for businesses, seeks IT upgrades in HB96 testimony
Summary
Jennifer French, chair of the Public Utilities Commission, told the House Natural Resources Committee the PUCO budget request includes IT modernization and a policy proposal to expand net metering so businesses can site generating facilities anywhere in their utility territory and to allow dispatchable thermal resources; she said safeguards would protect consumers.
Jennifer French, chair of the Public Utilities Commission, told the House Natural Resources Committee that the PUCO’s budget request under House Bill 96 includes funding for IT modernization and a policy proposal to expand Ohio’s net‑metering law to give businesses more flexibility to develop on‑site and off‑site generation.
"The requested change includes language to expand Ohio's net metering statute to allow businesses that want to develop their own electric generating resources for their use, but whose physical locations are constrained, to build generating facilities anywhere within their electric utility service territory," French said in testimony to the committee. She said the change would also expand the types of generating facilities eligible for net metering beyond renewables to include dispatchable thermal resources.
French said the budget request would also support continued IT modernization, including upgrades to the commission’s electronic docketing system to improve security and processing times. She framed the proposals as measures to improve grid reliability and to support economic development by making it easier for businesses to finance and site generation.
Committee members asked how the proposals would affect customers and consumer protections. Ranking Member Rogers raised submetering and whether consumers could be overcharged. French said she could not discuss a pending Supreme Court matter but pointed to safeguards contained in the commission’s decision, including that submetering charges "cannot exceed" the standard service offer as a guardrail. She described those safeguards as public record.
Representative Reiter asked for more detail about virtual net metering and whether the proposal would apply to community solar and other community projects. French said businesses have varying needs — some want behind‑the‑meter connections, others want to site generation in another part of the utility territory and later complete interconnection when queue delays ease. She also said the proposal contemplates including "green energy" such as nuclear and natural gas to provide dispatchable capacity where businesses require it.
French did not propose specific statutory language or a timeline in the committee hearing; she offered to answer follow‑up questions and said staff discussions and regulatory processes would shape implementation. The committee did not take action on policy during the hearing.
The committee is scheduled to hear additional testimony on HB96 covering other agencies; no vote on the net‑metering proposal was recorded during this session.
