Wednesday, April 5, 12:30-3pm, Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, 180 E. Broad St.

As you know, Larry Householder was found guilty on all counts, including racketeering, bribery, and conspiracy. He now faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Householder was accused of accepting millions of dollars in bribes in exchange for passing legislation.

Newly-uncovered bank records have revealed more dark money donations to Larry Householder from fossil fuel interests, labor unions, the nursing home industry, payday lenders, and more.

Not only does this type of corruption undermine the democratic process and erode the public’s trust in government, the coal subsidies passed as part of House Bill 6 remain in place.

The Ohio Valley Electric Corporation (OVEC) owns two coal-fired power plants [the Kyger Creek coal plant in Gallia County, Ohio and the Clifty Creek coal plant in Indiana] that continue to be subsidized by Ohio ratepayers under unrepealed provisions of H.B. 6. The money flows from customers to the Ohio utility companies that own OVEC: American Electric Power (42% equity stake), Duke Energy (9%) and AES Ohio (5%).

Every electric customer in the state of Ohio is still paying for this corrupt legislation. Ohioans have already paid $158 million dollars to subsidize the OVEC coal plants.

It’s time to finally repeal the OVEC coal subsidies.

The OVEC coal subsidies are a drain on ratepayers and have hindered efforts to transition to cleaner and more sustainable energy sources.

The OVEC coal plant subsidies are directly tied to the bribery scandal. Now’s our chance to end the bailout.

House Bill 6 has forced Ohioans to pay more than $140.4 million in subsidies to bail out the OVEC coal plants: the Kyger Creek coal plant in Gallia County, Ohio and the Clifty Creek coal plant in Indiana. Over that same period, those two plants have spewed more than 17 million tons of carbon dioxide into the air.

The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio has the authority to stop the coal plant subsidies.

Join us for a press conference to call on the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio to act on audits and stop the coal plant bailouts.

Contact: Tatiana Rodzos, <trodzos@ohiocitizen.org>.

Hosted by Ohio Citizen Action.