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The provision — which was removed in the final hours before passage of the new budget Wednesday — was also opposed by AARP (the American Association of Retired Persons), the Office of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel, the National Federation of Independent Businesses and the Ohio Chemistry Technology Council.
In a letter sent to the conference committee, those organizations argued that the provision “reverses rulings of the Ohio Supreme Court, that last year overturned PUCO decisions allowing utility charges to customers for financial stability.”
The PUCO (the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio) works with electric utilities to decide on rate levels. A spokesman for the PUCO declined to comment Thursday.
“Eliminating this provision from the budget bill will thwart the utilities’ latest ploy to seek a financial bailout by their customers by shifting ordinary business risk from shareholders to ratepayers,” Eric Burkland, OMA president, said in a release.
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