Read the full stored bill text
As Introduced
136th
General Assembly
Regular
Session
S. B. No. 108
2025-2026
Senator Brenner
A
BILL
To
amend section 4905.02 and to enact sections 4933.51, 4933.52,
4933.54,
4933.56
,
4933.57, 4933.59, 4933.60, and 4933.63 of the Revised Code
to
exempt from regulation as a public utility certain persons or
entities providing behind-the-meter utility services and to allow the
Public Utilities Commission to register providers of such services.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section
1.
That
section 4905.02 be amended and sections 4933.51, 4933.52,
4933.54,
4933.56
,
4933.57, 4933.59, 4933.60, and 4933.63 of the Revised Code be enacted
to read as follows:
Sec.
4905.02.
(A)
As used in this chapter, "public utility" includes every
corporation, company, copartnership, person, or association, the
lessees, trustees, or receivers of the foregoing, defined in section
4905.03 of the Revised Code, including any public utility that
operates its utility not for profit, except the following:
(1)
An electric light company that operates its utility not for profit;
(2)
A public utility, other than a telephone company, that is owned and
operated exclusively by and solely for the utility's customers,
including any consumer or group of consumers purchasing, delivering,
storing, or transporting, or seeking to purchase, deliver, store, or
transport, natural gas exclusively by and solely for the consumer's
or consumers' own intended use as the end user or end users and not
for profit;
(3)
A public utility that is owned or operated by any municipal
corporation;
(4)
A railroad as defined in sections 4907.02 and 4907.03 of the Revised
Code;
(5)
Any provider, including a telephone company, with respect to its
provision of any of the following:
(a)
Advanced services as defined in 47 C.F.R. 51.5;
(b)
Broadband service, however defined or classified by the federal
communications commission;
(c)
Information service as defined in the "Telecommunications Act of
1996," 110 Stat. 59, 47 U.S.C. 153(20);
(d)
Subject to division (A) of section 4927.03 of the Revised Code,
internet protocol-enabled services as defined in section 4927.01 of
the Revised Code;
(e)
Subject to division (A) of section 4927.03 of the Revised Code, any
telecommunications service as defined in section 4927.01 of the
Revised Code to which both of the following apply:
(i)
The service was not commercially available on September 13, 2010, the
effective date of the amendment of this section by S.B. 162 of the
128th general assembly.
(ii)
The service employs technology that became available for commercial
use only after September 13, 2010, the effective date of the
amendment of this section by S.B. 162 of the 128th general assembly.
(6)(a)
A person, business, or other entity that, either on its own behalf or
under a contract with a property owner, provides, constructs, or
installs for customers behind-the-meter utility service;
(b)
As used in this division, "behind-the-meter utility service"
means any of the following, if provided, constructed, or installed at
a point after services provided by a public utility are delivered to
the public utility's metered points of delivery at the customers'
locations:
(i)
Service or benefit from an advanced energy resource as defined in
section 4928.01 of the Revised Code;
(ii)
Electric service;
(iii)
Billing service for services described in divisions (A)(6)(b)(i) and
(ii) of this section;
(iv)
Electric vehicle charging;
(v)
Resale of electricity to a tenant's dwelling unit by a landlord or
the landlord's agent that is based on metered consumption;
(7)
Billing service for the resale of natural gas or water service to a
tenant's dwelling unit by a landlord or the landlord's agent that is
based on metered consumption and that is delivered at a point after
natural gas or water service is delivered to the public utility's
metered point of delivery for that service at that location.
(B)(1)
"Public utility" includes a for-hire motor carrier even if
the carrier is operated in connection with an entity described in
division (A)(1), (2), (4), or (5) of this section.
(2)
Division (A) of this section shall not be construed to relieve a
private motor carrier, operated in connection with an entity
described in division (A)(1), (2), (4), or (5) of this section, from
compliance with either of the following:
(a)
Chapter 4923. of the Revised Code;
(b)
Rules governing unified carrier registration adopted under section
4921.11 of the Revised Code.
(C)
As used in divisions (A)(6) and (7) of this section, "dwelling
unit," "landlord," and "tenant" have the
same meanings as in section 5321.01 of the Revised Code.
Sec.
4933.51.
As
used in sections 4933.51 to 4933.63 of the Revised Code:
"Behind-the-meter
utility service" has the same meaning as in section 4905.02 of
the Revised Code.
"Behind-the-meter
utility service provider" means a person, business, or other
entity that, either on its own behalf or under a contract with a
property owner, provides, constructs, or installs for customers
behind-the-meter utility service.
"Dwelling
unit" and "tenant" have the same meanings as in
section 5321.01 of the Revised Code.
"Electric
light company" has the same meaning as in section 4905.03 of the
Revised Code.
Sec.
4933.52.
(A)
As used in this section, "public utility" is an electric
light company, natural gas company, or water-works company as defined
in section 4905.03 of the Revised Code that is a public utility as
defined in section 4905.02 of the Revised Code.
(B)
Except for reasons of safety or reliability, the public utilities
commission shall not adopt any rule that permits a public utility to
set the location of, or refuse to relocate, any of its meters so that
the meter's location prevents either of the following:
(1)
A behind-the-meter utility service provider from providing,
constructing, or installing behind-the-meter utility service at a
point after the public utility service is delivered to the public
utility's metered point of delivery at that location;
(2)
A billing service described in division (A)(7) of section 4905.02 of
the Revised Code from providing the billing service for natural gas
or water service at a point after natural gas or water service is
delivered to the public utility's metered point of delivery for that
service at that location.
(C)
Except for reasons of safety or reliability, no public utility shall
set the location of, or refuse to relocate, any of its meters so that
the meter's location prevents either of the following:
(1)
A behind-the-meter utility service provider from providing,
constructing, or installing behind-the-meter utility service at a
point after the public utility service is delivered to the public
utility's metered point of delivery at that location;
(2)
A billing service described in division (A)(7) of section 4905.02 of
the Revised Code from providing the billing service for natural gas
or water service at a point after natural gas or water service is
delivered to the public utility's metered point of delivery for that
service at that location.
Sec.
4933.54.
No
behind-the-meter utility service provider that resells electricity to
a tenant based on metered consumption at the tenant's dwelling unit
may charge the tenant more than the bill for the standard service
offer and all riders that the electric light company, in whose
certified territory the dwelling unit is located, would charge its
residential customers for electric service.
Sec.
4933.56.
(A)
The public utilities commission may adopt rules requiring the
biennial registration of some or all types of behind-the-meter
utility service providers in the state. The registration process
shall require the behind-the-meter utility service provider to
disclose the provider's name, business address, phone number,
regulatory contact, and the type of services offered by the provider.
The rules for the registration process also shall include other
disclosure requirements as prescribed by the commission.
(B)
Rules establishing registration requirements under this section,
including any requirements regarding classifications, procedures,
terms, and conditions, shall be reasonable and shall not confer any
undue economic, competitive, or market advantage or preference upon
any electric light company, behind-the-meter utility service
provider, or competitive retail electric service provider.
(C)
The commission may charge behind-the-meter utility service providers
a registration processing fee of not more than two hundred dollars
per biennial registration.
(D)
Notwithstanding any provision of section 121.95 of the Revised Code
to the contrary, a regulatory restriction contained in rules adopted
under sections 4933.51 to 4933.63 of the Revised Code is not subject
to sections 121.95 to 121.953 of the Revised Code.
Sec.
4933.57.
No
behind-the-meter utility service provider shall provide a
behind-the-meter utility service to a consumer in this state without
first being registered with the public utilities commission, if
registration is required by rules adopted by the commission under
section 4933.56 of the Revised Code.
Sec.
4933.59.
If
the public utilities commission establishes a registration process
and requirements under section 4933.56 of the Revised Code, the
commission may require a behind-the-meter utility service provider
that resells electricity to a tenant based on metered consumption for
the tenant's dwelling unit to do the following:
(A)
Provide a separate disclosure to its tenants and reporting of pricing
solely for purposes of compliance with the pricing requirement for
resale of electricity under section 4933.54 of the Revised Code;
(B)
Disclose its process and procedures for the disconnection of electric
service.
Sec.
4933.60.
(A)
Any person, firm, or corporation, or the public utilities commission
upon its initiative, may file a written complaint against any
behind-the-meter utility service provider for a failure to comply
with, or a violation of, registration requirements under sections
4933.56 to 4933.59 of the Revised Code or the pricing requirement for
resale of electricity under section 4933.54 of the Revised Code.
If
it appears that reasonable grounds for complaint are stated, the
commission shall provide notice of probable noncompliance to the
behind-the-meter utility service provider and grant the provider
sixty days to cure the noncompliance. If such noncompliance is not
cured during the sixty-day cure period, the commission may open an
investigation of the provider's compliance with the registration
requirements under sections 4933.56 to 4933.59 of the Revised Code or
the pricing requirement for resale of electricity under section
4933.54 of the Revised Code.
(B)
The parties to a complaint investigation under this section shall be
entitled to be heard, represented by counsel, and to have a process
to enforce the attendance of witnesses.
Sec.
4933.63.
Any
behind-the-meter utility service provider that violates or fails to
comply with the registration requirements under sections 4933.56 to
4933.59 of the Revised Code or the pricing requirement for resale of
electricity under section 4933.54 of the Revised Code is liable to
the state for a forfeiture of not more than one hundred dollars for
each violation or compliance failure unless the violation or failure
is cured within sixty days after receipt of the notice required under
this section.
The
public utilities commission, after providing reasonable notice and
the opportunity for a hearing, shall issue an order assessing a
forfeiture upon a behind-the-meter utility service provider whom the
commission determines, by a preponderance of the evidence, committed
the violation or failed to comply. Forfeitures shall be recovered by
action prosecuted in the name of the state and may be brought in the
court of common pleas of any county in which the provider who
committed the violation or failed to comply is located. The action
shall be commenced and prosecuted by the attorney general when
directed by the public utilities commission. All forfeitures are
cumulative, and an action for recovery of one does not bar the
recovery of another. Forfeitures collected under this section shall
be credited to the general revenue fund.
Section
2.
That
existing section 4905.02 of the Revised Code is hereby repealed.