Mike DeWine Suddenly Eager To Repeal Coal/Nuclear/Bribery Bailout He Signed Into Law

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine reversed course on Thursday and called for a nuclear bailout energy law to be repealed in the wake of the state’s $60 million bribery scandal.

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Debate over the bill began Tuesday, following the arrests of Republican House Speaker Larry Householder and four associates in the $60 million case. Federal prosecutors allege Householder and others accepted bribes to shepherd the energy bill into law.

On Wednesday, DeWine had been adamant that the law shouldn’t be repealed, saying the policy was sound even if the way it was enacted wasn’t. The governor also encouraged lawmakers to move quickly to replace Householder, saying he can no longer function in his job given the charges. The governor’s comments on his reversal came about two hours after House Republican lawmakers launched an effort to repeal a nuclear bailout law and “sanitize” legislative activity as a bribery scandal unfolds over the law’s passage.

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Householder was one of the driving forces behind the nuclear plants’ financial rescue. Previous attempts to bail out the nuclear plants had stalled in the Legislature before Householder became speaker. Months after taking over, he rolled out a new plan to subsidize the plants and eliminate renewable energy incentives. The 2019 law added a new fee to every electricity bill in the state and directed over $150 million a year through 2026 to the plants near Cleveland and Toledo. The bill faced fierce opposition from both clean energy groups and manufacturers.

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https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2020/07/23/ohio-governor-reverses-course-calls-to-repeal-energy-law/