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As Introduced
136th
General Assembly
Regular
Session
S. B. No. 297
2025-2026
Senators Craig, Smith
To
amend sections 4905.02 and 4928.53 and to enact sections 4933.51,
4933.52, 4933.53, 4933.54, 4933.55, 4933.57, and 4933.58 of the
Revised Code
to
exempt electric submetering companies from classification as a public
utility, to impose various requirements on such companies, and to
extend eligibility for the percentage of income payment plan program
to certain electric submetering company customers.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section
1.
That
sections 4905.02 and 4928.53 be amended and sections 4933.51,
4933.52, 4933.53, 4933.54, 4933.55, 4933.57, and 4933.58 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)
An electric submetering company.
(b)
As used in this division, "electric submetering company"
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 facilities for the resale of electricity to a
tenant's dwelling unit by a landlord or the landlord's agent that is
based on metered consumption at a point after services provided by an
electric light company under section 4905.03 of the Revised Code that
is a public utility are delivered to the company's metered points of
delivery at the customers' locations.
(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 division (A)(6) of this section, "dwelling unit,"
"landlord," and "tenant" have the same meanings
as in section 5321.01 of the Revised Code.
Sec.
4928.53.
(A)
Beginning July 1, 2000, the director of development is hereby
authorized to administer the low-income customer assistance programs.
For that purpose, the public utilities commission shall cooperate
with and provide such assistance as the director requires for
administration of the low-income customer assistance programs. The
director shall consolidate the administration of and redesign and
coordinate the operations of those programs within the department to
provide, to the maximum extent possible, for efficient program
administration and a one-stop application and eligibility
determination process at the local level for consumers.
(B)(1)
Not later than March 1, 2000, the director, in accordance with
Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, shall adopt rules to carry out
sections 4928.51 to 4928.58 of the Revised Code and ensure the
effective and efficient administration and operation of the
low-income customer assistance programs. The rules shall take effect
on July 1, 2000.
(2)
The director's authority to adopt rules under this division for the
Ohio energy credit program shall be subject to such rule-making
authority as is conferred on the director by sections 5117.01 to
5117.12 of the Revised Code, as amended by Sub. S.B. No. 3 of the
123rd general assembly, except that rules initially adopted by the
director for the Ohio energy credit program shall incorporate the
substance of those sections as they exist on the effective date of
this section.
(3)
The director's authority to adopt rules under this division for the
percentage of income payment plan program shall include authority to
adopt rules prescribing criteria for customer eligibility and
policies regarding payment and crediting arrangements and
responsibilities, procedures for verifying customer eligibility,
procedures for disbursing public funds to suppliers and otherwise
administering funds under the director's jurisdiction, and
requirements as to timely remittances of revenues described in
division (B) of section 4928.51 of the Revised Code. The rules shall
prohibit the imposition of a waiting period before enrolling an
eligible customer in the percentage of income payment plan. The
director's authority in division (B)(3) of this section excludes
authority to prescribe service disconnection and customer billing
policies and procedures and to address complaints against suppliers
under the percentage of payment plan program, which excluded
authority shall be exercised by the public utilities commission, in
coordination with the director. Rules adopted by the director under
this division for the percentage of income payment plan program shall
specify a level of payment responsibility to be borne by an eligible
customer based on a percentage of the customer's income. Rules
initially adopted by the director for the percentage of income
payment plan program shall incorporate the eligibility criteria and
payment arrangement and responsibility policies set forth in rule
4901:1-18-04(B) of the Ohio Administrative Code in effect on the
effective date of this section.
Rules
adopted by the director under this division shall extend eligibility
for the percentage of income plan program to residential customers of
an electric submetering company, as defined in section 4905.02 of the
Revised Code, who meet other generally applicable customer
eligibility criteria.
Sec.
4933.51.
As
used in sections 4933.51 to 4933.58 of the Revised Code:
(A)
"Competitive retail electric service" has the same meaning
as in section 4928.01 of the Revised Code.
(B)
"Dwelling unit" and "tenant" have the same
meanings as in section 5321.01 of the Revised Code.
(C)
"Electric light company" means an electric light company
under section 4905.03 of the Revised Code that is a public utility
under section 4905.02 of the Revised Code.
(D)
"Electric submetering company" has the same meaning as in
section 4905.02 of the Revised Code.
Sec.
4933.52.
No
electric submetering company shall charge a 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.
4933.53.
An
electric submetering company shall do the following:
(A)
Register with the public utilities commission every two years and
comply with the rules adopted pursuant to section 4933.54 of the
Revised Code;
(B)
At a minimum, comply with the requirements for the disconnection of
electric service established in sections 4933.121 to 4933.123 of the
Revised Code and the rules adopted pursuant to those sections, as
applicable;
(C)
Provide a separate disclosure and a report of pricing to its tenants
solely for purposes of compliance with the pricing requirement for
resale of electricity under section 4933.52 of the Revised Code;
(D)
Disclose its process and procedures for the disconnection of electric
service.
Sec.
4933.54.
(A)
The public utilities commission shall adopt rules to implement the
requirements of section 4933.53 of the Revised Code. The rules shall
require the electric submetering company to disclose the company's
name, business address, telephone number, and regulatory contact. The
rules also shall include other disclosure requirements as prescribed
by the commission.
(B)
Rules 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,
electric submetering company, or competitive retail electric service
provider.
(C)
The commission may charge electric submetering companies 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 4933.58 of the Revised Code is not subject
to sections 121.95 to 121.953 of the Revised Code.
Sec.
4933.55.
No
electric submetering company shall operate in this state without
first being registered with the public utilities commission.
Sec.
4933.57.
(A)
Any person, firm, or corporation, or the public utilities commission
upon its initiative, may file a written complaint against any
electric submetering company for a failure to comply with, or a
violation of, any requirements under sections 4933.52 to 4933.55 of
the Revised Code.
If
it appears that reasonable grounds for complaint are stated, the
commission shall provide notice of probable noncompliance to the
electric submetering company and grant the company 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 company's compliance with the requirements under sections 4933.52
to 4933.55 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.
4933.58.
Any
electric submetering company that the public utilities commission
determines, after reasonable notice and a hearing, and by a
preponderance of the evidence, has violated, or failed to comply
with, the requirements under sections 4933.52 to 4933.55 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 the
date of the determination. If the violation or compliance failure is
cured within that time period, the commission shall issue an order
relieving the company from that liability.
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 company 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 sections 4905.02 and 4928.53 of the Revised Code are hereby
repealed.