© 2025 WOSU Public Media
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Energy Research Nonprofit Calls for the Repeal of FirstEnergy Bailout

The Perry Nuclear Plant is one of two FirstEnergy plants that were bailed out through House Bill 6 last year.
JERRY SHARP
/
SHUTTERSTOCK
The Perry Nuclear Plant is one of two FirstEnergy plants that were bailed out through House Bill 6 last year.

The head of an energy research nonprofit in Cleveland hopes the corruption scandal surrounding a utility bailout will ultimately help Ohio move forward. Sandy Buchanan is the executive director of the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.

She wants to see House Bill 6, the bailout that saved FirstEnergy’s nuclear plants, repealed but not replaced.

She said the bill is poor policy and holds Ohio back.

“Ohio needs to look to the future. We’ve been mired in the past because of FirstEnergy’s influence in attempting to stop renewables for many years, not just the last couple," she said. "And so it’s time to put those days behind us and move forward with the rest of the country.”

Buchanan thinks Ohio should focus on wind and other renewable energy options, which she says are better for the environment, consumers and the economy.  

There are both Democrat and Republican-led movements to repeal the bill in the House. Speaker Larry Householder was arrested last week by federal authorities, who allege he orchestrated a $61 million scheme to get the bill passed.

Copyright 2021 WKSU. To see more, visit WKSU.

Abigail Bottar is a junior at Kent State University. She is pursuing a major in political science with a concentration in American politics and minors in history and women's studies. Additionally, Abigail is starting her second semester copy editing for The Burr.