Bullock: Ohio HB 6 took away consumer electric savings, but HB 79 can help bring them back

Consumers have been paying extra on their monthly electric bills since Ohio House Bill 6 was enacted — not only due to subsidies for 80-year old, uncompetitive power plants it mandated, but also because it ended utility work on energy efficiency that lowers Ohio power consumption and lowers costs along with it. To date, Ohioans have lost an estimated $890 million in savings.

But as early as this month, the Ohio General Assembly could vote to change that and take the first steps toward energy saving since HB 6 was enacted. A new bipartisan proposal, Ohio House Bill 79, could prompt utilities to resume efforts to help customers save through insulation, efficient appliances, less expensive energy, and lower grid maintenance costs.

New rules in HB 79 improve quality controls to ensure utilities’ work results in verifiable bill savings, and they eliminate past gimmicks such as sending light bulb “kits” to customers who did not request them.In practice, this means utilities could offer discounts and rebates to encourage residential and small business customers to invest in insulation, air conditioning and furnaces tune-ups, and efficient lighting, refrigerators, water heaters, and heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems.

This matters because the least expensive unit of power is the one we don’t use. For every $1 invested in energy waste reduction, consumers will save $1.30 to $1.90. HB 79 would lower energy inflation. If Ohio does nothing, energy inflation will cost everyone more. Power prices rise as power demand rises, unless we deploy energy efficiency to delink them.

Notably, HB 79 allows consumers to opt out. Customers who do will still save money thanks to lower energy prices (due to lowered demand) and lower peak demand (e.g. on hot summer days), which drives a significant portion of electricity costs.

HB 79 also would increase grid reliability. Ohio will need more power in coming years thanks to data centers, the Intel chip manufacturing facility in Lick County, and increasing electric vehicle use. If Ohio energy efficiency work had continued after HB 6, Ohioans could have used 5.4 million megawatt hours (MWh) less electricity in 2023 —about the same as the annual power output of the coal-fired Kyger Creek Power Plant along the Ohio River in Cheshire, Gallilia County (owned by Ohio Valley Electric Corporation).

The market alone is not enough, and utility-run programs can increase savings by getting more consumers to participate, lowering usage statewide that lowers costs for everyone. Critics claim that markets work and people make energy efficiency choices without utility involvement, but all evidence shows that utility discounts and rebates together with the market often produce the best results for consumers utilizing energy efficiency.

In a time of rising costs, the Ohio General Assembly can help Ohioans cut their energy use and monthly bills by passing HB 79. Will they?

Tom Bullock is executive director of the Citizens Utility Board of Ohio, a nonprofit, nonpartisan consumer advocacy organization works to reduce residential and small business utility customers.