nuclear-news

Ohio’s tainted House Bill 6 likely to be repealed. What now for the nuclear power plants?

Ohio’s nuclear plants face new uncertainty as HB 6 comes under attack, Crains Cleveland Business, DAN SHINGLER  26 Jul 20, So what happens to Ohio and its nuclear plants now?

It’s becoming apparent that 2019’s House Bill 6, the now-tainted law that provides about $150 million a year in subsidies primarily to Ohio’s two nuclear plants, likely will be repealed.

But will it be replaced? And if so, will the plants, which Ohioans were told would close without the subsidies, be saved?

Those are questions now causing angst from Columbus, where state lawmakers are grappling with the issue, to the Toledo area and Lake County, where the affected Davis-Besse and Perry nuclear plants are respectively located. The companies involved, FirstEnergy Corp. of Akron and its former subsidiary, Energy Harbor, which owns the plants, have yet to say how they might address the matter and have declined interview requests.

Legislators, economic developers and others across the state expressed their disgust with the situation — which already has become one of the largest scandals in Ohio’s history and resulted in the July 21 arrest of House Speaker Larry Householder and  four others for what federal officials say was a $60 million bribery scheme to pass the law…….

Cirino said he would like to see HB 6’s subsidies remain in place, but he’s resigned to the bill likely being repealed. A number of lawmakers have already announced legislation to undo HB 6, and Gov. Mike DeWine, who said he supported keeping the law in place when the scandal broke, had reversed course by July 23 and joined calls for it to be repealed. ………

July 27, 2020 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, USA