Ohio House approves bill saving Davis-Besse

SANDUSKY — The Davis-Besse nuclear power plant — and its hundreds of jobs — have been saved.The Ohio House approved the Senate's latest version of House Bill 6, the measure to subsidize Ohio's two nuclear power plants, by a 51-38 vote Tuesday. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, who supported the bill, signed it Thursday afternoon.The vote was a happy moment and a big relief for Ottawa County officials. Many, such as Ottawa County commissioner Mark Stahl, and Jamie Beier Grant, thr director of the Ottawa County Improvement Corporation, had worked for years to find a way to keep the plant open.The two, and others from Ottawa County, were spectators in Columbus when the House approved the bill by a narrow margin. The House needed 50 votes to approve the bill, Beier Grant said."To say we are excited and relieved would be an understatement," she said. "I have worked on trying to find a legislative solution, in partnership with FirstEnergy Solutions, gosh, more than six years. This was a long, hard fight, but in the end, Ottawa County is better off."FirstEnergy had stated the plant was losing money and would have to be closed without financial relief.Stahl said he also worked for years, often in tandem with Jerry Cirino, a Lake County commissioner, where the Perry nuclear plant is located. At first, the two traveled to Washington, thinking a solution to save the plants would be found there, Stahl said."It's been a long road, a collaborative effort, a great team working together, a collaboration with our friends in Lake County as well. It's how government should work," Stahl said.Each plant sent a busload of supporters to Columbus Tuesday.Davis-Besse, in the Oak Harbor area, directly supports about 700 jobs, most of them high-paying. That includes 600 people who work at the plant, including 300 who live in Ottawa County and 125 who live in Erie County. There are another 100 contract workers at the plant.And that doesn't count the economic impact of the spending by those workers, who average a salary of about $80,000 a year.Guy Parmigian, superintendent of Benton-Carroll-Salem Schools, near where the plant is located, also watched the vote. When the measure was approved, Parmigian immediately texted his school board."We are just extremely overjoyed and relieved," he said. "The closure of Davis-Besse would have been catastrophic not just for Oak Harbor but for the whole region of Oak Harbor."State Rep. Steve Arndt, R-Port Clinton, has retired from the House. Local lawmakers Rep. Bill Reineke, R-Tiffin, and Rep. Dick Stein, R-Norwalk, voted in favor of the bill.State Sen. Theresa Gavarone, R-Bowling Green, who represents Erie and Ottawa counties, voted for the bill in the Senate."Keeping Davis-Besse open was a top priority for me because of the jobs and tax base at stake in my district," Gavarone said Thursday. "The legislature's action and Gov. DeWine's signature on this legislation is a big win for supporters, like me, of reliable, carbon-free energy, and lower energy prices."The measure imposes an 85 cent surcharge on homeowners' electricity bills to generate $170 million a year. The bill will generate about $170 million, with $150 million to keep open two nuclear plants. Supporters argue the bill will save customers money because they will no longer be paying a larger free to support renewable energy.But the approval of the bill was bitterly denounced by environmental groups angry the measure weakens support for many forms of renewable energy. They said the measure guts support for wind and solar energy.The Ohio Environmental Council criticized the bill and issued a call for DeWine to veto the bill. The governor disappointed the group by immediately signing it instead."The bill before Gov. DeWine appeases only a few private sector interests in Ohio, at the expense of Ohio families, small businesses, and the health of current and future Ohioans," the OEC said in its statement."Since 2009, Ohio's energy efficiency and renewable energy standards moved Ohio forward in terms of creating new clean energy jobs, attracting new investment and revenue coming into Ohio, and steadily reducing annual carbon pollution equivalent to about a million homes' worth of electricity consumption. HB 6 will set Ohio backward as it cuts funding for these critical renewable energy sources and bails out antiquated nuclear and coal facilities, all while sticking Ohioans with dirtier air and higher utility bills," the statement said.The Davis-Besse nuclear power plant. Stahl Jamie Beier GrantSen. Theresa Gavarone.