Dark Money Is Pouring in to Protect the “Worst Energy Policy in the Country”

In Ohio, the fight over a nuclear and coal bailout is getting weirder by the day.

As reported by Mother Jones.

This quote, however, needs to be rebutted:

All told, “there’s more money in the Ohio law to bail out dirty old coal plants than to support carbon-free nuclear power,” Stokes [a University of CA-Santa Barbara professor] says.

First of all, nuclear power is not carbon-free.

But Stokes' assertion that HB6 bails out coal plants more than nuclear plants is also not correct. Most of the bailout goes to nuclear plants, actually. $150 million of the $170 million per year bailout goes to two atomic reactors. Altogether, after six years of such bailouts, $900 million would have gone to the two reactors, out of the total $1.1 billion associated with the HB6 bailout. In addition to two coal plants (one of which is in Indiana, not Ohio!), some funds would go towards already-approved solar projects, most located in southern OH. But the clean energy subsidies to solar are dwarfed by the dirty energy subsidies to nuclear and coal.

House Bill 6 opponents seeking more time to circulate referendum petitions

As reported by The News-Herald.

Ohio House Bill 6 repeal campaign files federal lawsuit challenging state’s referendum rules

As reported by the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Five states have implemented programs to assist nuclear power plants

As reported by the U.S. Energy Information Administration:

In late July 2019, Ohio became the fifth state in the United States to enact policies that provide for compensation or other assistance for in-state nuclear generating plants. Connecticut, Illinois, New Jersey, and New York have implemented similar support programs for some of their nuclear power plants since 2017. All five state states have unbundled, retail-choice electricity markets where generators do not receive cost recovery from state regulatory commissions. Nuclear power is a significant source of in-state electricity generation in each of these five states.

Collectively, the 14 reactors at the 10 plants receiving state support account for 9% of the utility-scale generating capacity in those five states and 13% of the nation’s nuclear generating capacity...

Ohio AG investigates new allegations in fight over energy bill referendum

As reported by the Dayton Daily News.