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Once the smoke cleared at the Statehouse this week, an improved framework for electricity regulation emerged
Published on Friday, Apr 18, 2008
The result? At one point, amid the furious give-and-take, compromises, concessions and changes, Husted feared his proposal had become unrecognizable, something he no longer could support. Democrats, angry, weary and posturing, stalked out of a committee hearing early Tuesday morning, leaving majority Republicans to cope with the partisan fallout. Thankfully, minds soon began to refocus, and by Wednesday and into Thursday, the shape of a consensus started to form.
The cautious optimism is: By next week, the governor and lawmakers will have a comprehensive bill. No surprise that legislation so wide-ranging and complicated involves countless and mind-bending details. A handful remain to be massaged. It matters that aggregators (those seeking to pool consumers in a bid for price leverage) enjoy a favorable landscape. Less appealing are price limits with the potential to discourage investment in renewable and advanced energy sources in the state.
Misguided, too, is an ''excessive earnings'' clause, demanded by the governor yet worrisomely vague, more about political show than the crisp functioning of the electricity industry. Shouldn't the regulatory process provide prevention enough?
Amid the many contentious details, the overall regulatory structure shouldn't be lost. A promising ''hybrid'' has taken form, blending the governor's concern for rising prices with the speaker's awareness that the state cannot reverse entirely deregulation launched nine years ago, and may benefit from utilities having a tightly defined market option. The hope is, as the debate proceeds, that structure will hold. As eager as many at the Statehouse are for a return to traditional regulation, it cannot be achieved — without much unwarranted turmoil.
Recall that traditional regulation delivered the high prices that Northeast Ohioans have faced. Now there is a framework protective of consumers and appropriately flexible for power companies. More, the compromise marks a significant step forward in the realm of renewable and advanced energy sources. Ohio gaining precise benchmarks and penalties to spur development and use.
The old saw is, lawmaking can be messy. It has been in this case, flaws likely to surface as days and weeks pass. As they do, fix on the big picture, a regulatory framework tuned to the realities in Ohio.
Get the full article here.
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