The battle over the energy law that starts providing subsidies to Ohio鈥檚 two nuclear power plants in 2021 may not be over.
The Ohio Supreme Court has voted 4-0 to hear the case filed by Ohioans Against Corporate Bailouts. from the case, citing political campaign conflicts.
Ohioans Against Corporate Bailouts had said it was denied a full 90 days to gather signatures for a referendum. They want to overturn the law that subsidizes Ohio's two nuclear power plants owned by FirstEnergy Solutions and two coal fired plants owned by Ohio Valley Electric Corporation. It also also shrinks and eventually that utilities get a percentage of their power from renewable energy sources and .
They claim they were delayed after Attorney General Dave Yost , but also that people hired by the law鈥檚 supporters followed and petition circulators, such as .
"Friends of mine, allies, people that would normally signed it weeks ago but they haven't been able to find it because of all these tactics," Belz said while trying to gather signatures the weekend before the petitions needed to be turned in on October 21.
The groups supporting the law say to educate people, and they also say the referendum process has worked this way in Ohio for the last 80 years.
have revealed their donors.
Ohioans Against Corporate Bailouts , but the judge , saying those justices needed to answer questions of state law.
The law's supporters also had a case they filed with the Ohio Supreme Court, claiming that , and therefore couldn't be put before voters. But , the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio has approved several tax increases over the years.
The court won't decide that tax question. But whether opponents should get an extra 38 days, which they say will allow them to get 44,000 more signatures to take the law it to the ballot next year. Both sides have 40 days to file briefs and then oral arguments will be scheduled.
The law was (R-Glenford) as a needed overhaul of state energy policy. Republicans were split on it, and Democrats were angered when a rewrite of the proposal to bring on more GOP votes gutted the green energy standards - something many had for but . But this time, Gov. Mike DeWine .
The referendum attempt that was one of those most bitter, divisive and expensive campaigns in recent state history.
The law's supporters, backed by the groups Ohioans For Energy Security and Generation Now, had mounted a relentless campaign to stop the referedum. Monitors worked the field while an ad and mail campaign hit the airwaves and mailboxes, attempting to tie the law's opponents and raising questions about the criminal records of petition circulators. There were also accusations that the law's supporters were trying to , but those groups denied those charges.
Copyright 2021 The Statehouse News Bureau. To see more, visit . 9(MDA5NTM4MTIyMDE0MTg3NDc2MTVlZjdmNQ001))
