Ohio Dems want nuclear bailout law repealed as scandal grows

Ohio Dems want nuclear bailout law repealed as scandal grows

SeattlePI.com

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A nuclear plant bailout law should be repealed immediately, Democratic members of the Ohio House announced Wednesday as a bribery scandal involving one of the state’s most powerful lawmakers unfolded over the law’s passage.

The announcement came a day after Larry Householder, the Republican speaker of the Ohio House, and four associates were arrested in a $60 million federal bribery case connected to the taxpayer-funded bailout.

U.S. Attorney David DeVillers described the ploy as likely the largest bribery and money-laundering scheme that had “ever been perpetrated against the people of the state of Ohio.”

Householder was one of the driving forces behind the nuclear plants’ financial rescue. Previous attempts to bail out the nuclear plants had stalled in the Legislature before Householder became speaker. Months after taking over, he rolled out a new plan to subsidize the plants and eliminate renewable energy incentives.

"When corruption is revealed, it is important we act quickly to fix what has been broken,” Rep. Michael Skindell, a suburban Cleveland Democrat, said Wednesday. Senate Democrat Cecil Thomas of Cincinnati also called for its repeal.

The 2019 law added a new fee to every electricity bill in the state and directed over $150 million a year through 2026 to the plants near Cleveland and Toledo. The bill faced fierce opposition from both clean energy groups and manufacturers.

Repealing the law quickly won't be easy, and is complicated by support the law received in the House, both from Householder-backed Republicans and Democrats persuaded to support the measure.

Meanwhile, even before the scandal erupted, the Householder-led House was on summer recess, and the speaker had declined to bring lawmakers back before fall. The...

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