SB 245: Prohibit utilities from recovering political expenditure costs
This bill aims to prohibit public utilities from recovering political expenditure costs from their customers. Public utilities, such as electric companies and gas companies, will not be allowed to pass on the costs of political expenditures to their customers. The public utilities commission will be responsible for determining whether public utilities have violated this rule and will impose fines if they have. Fines will be used to create a fund that will assist customers in paying past-due public utility bills. Public utilities will be required to submit annual reports detailing their political expenditures. These reports will be publicly available and will help track the amount of money being spent on political activities.
| Oct. 01, 2025 | Referred to committee: Public Utilities |
| Aug. 19, 2025 | Introduced |
As Introduced
136th General Assembly
Regular Session
S. B. No. 245
2025-2026
Senator Smith
Cosponsors: Senators Antonio, Romanchuk
To enact sections 4933.51, 4933.52, 4933.53, 1
4933.55,4933.57,4933.58,4933.59, and 4933.60 2
of the Revised Code to prohibit certain public 3
utilities from recovering political expenditure 4
costs from their customers. 5
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That sections 4933.51, 4933.52, 4933.53, 6
4933.55,4933.57,4933.58,4933.59, and 4933.60 of the Revised 7
Code be enacted to read as follows: 8
Sec. 4933.51. As used in sections 4933.51 to 4933.60 of 9
the Revised Code:
gas company, or natural gas company as described in section 12
4905.03 of the Revised Code that is a public utility under 13
section 4905.02 of the Revised Code. 14
(2) "Public utility" includes any affiliate or subsidiary 15
of a company described in division (A) (1) of this section. 16
(B) "Nonprofit organization" means a tax-exempt 17
organization described under subsection 501 (c) (3) or 501 (c) (4) 18
of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. 501. 19
(C) "Political expenditure" means any of the following: ..... 20
(1) A contribution or gift to a political candidate, ..... 21
party, or committee, to a committee of the general assembly, or ..... 22
to an organization working to promote the adoption or defeat of, ..... 23
or influence the outcome of an election for, a ballot issue or ..... 24
question: ..... 25
(2) A contribution to a trade association, chamber of ..... 26
commerce, nonprofit organization, or other organization that is ..... 27
described under subsection 501 (c) (6) of the Internal Revenue ..... 28
Code, 26 U.S.C. 501: ..... 29
(3) Dues paid to any industry association of which the ..... 30
public utility is a member: ..... 31
(4) An expenditure incurred for the purpose of lobbying ..... 32
any branch of government: ..... 33
(5) Expenses incurred for the purpose of influencing ..... 34
public opinion about public policy issues or about the ..... 35
reputation of the public utility: ..... 36
(6) Expenses incurred to fund any other political, ..... 37
charitable, or lobbying activity. ..... 38
Sec. 4933.52. No public utility shall recover the cost of ..... 39
any political expenditure from its customers through any rate, ..... 40
rate mechanism, rental, toll, fee, rider, or other charge ..... 41
implemented pursuant to section 4909.18 or sections 4928.141 and ..... 42
4928.142 of the Revised Code or under Chapter 4929. of the ..... 43
Revised Code. ..... 44
Sec. 4933.53. If the public utilities commission ..... 45
determines that a public utility charged its customers in ..... 46
violation of section 4933.52 of the Revised Code, the charges ..... 47
imposed in violation of that section shall be subject to refund, ..... 48
plus interest. The commission shall order the payment of the ..... 49
refunds in a manner designed to allocate the refunds to customer ..... 50
classes in the same proportion as the charges were originally ..... 51
collected. ..... 52
Sec. 4933.55. If the public utilities commission, after ..... 53
providing notice and a hearing, determines that a public utility ..... 54
has charged its customers in violation of section 4933.52 of the ..... 55
Revised Code, the commission shall issue an order imposing a ..... 56
fine on the public utility. The amount of the fine shall equal ..... 57
twenty times the amount that the public utility charged to ..... 58
customers in violation of that section. ..... 59
Sec. 4933.57. The political activity fine fund is created ..... 60
in the state treasury consisting of the fines paid by public ..... 61
utilities pursuant to section 4933.55 of the Revised Code. The ..... 62
money in the fund shall be used to assist customers in paying ..... 63
public utility bills that are past due, according to a process ..... 64
established by rules adopted under division (A) (2) of section ..... 65
4933.60 of the Revised Code. ..... 66
Sec. 4933.58. The department of development shall ..... 67
administer the political activity fine fund created under ..... 68
section 4933.57 of the Revised Code. The department shall ..... 69
distribute the money in the fund to customers through the ..... 70
percentage of income payment plan program administered by the ..... 71
department pursuant to section 4928.53 of the Revised Code and ..... 72
in accordance with rules adopted under division (A) (2) of ..... 73
section 4933.60 of the Revised Code regarding the distribution ..... 74
of the money. ..... 75
Sec. 4933.59. (A) Not later than the first day of January ..... 76
each year, each public utility shall submit to the public ..... 77
S. B. No. 245 Page 4
As Introduced
expenditures that the utility made during the preceding twelve-
month period. For each expenditure, the report shall include the
payee, amount, and purpose of the expenditure. The report shall
be submitted to the commission electronically, and upon its
receipt, the commission shall post the report on the commission
web site.
(B) The commission shall compile the expenditure reports
submitted under division (A) of this section into a single
report that the commission shall submit to the general assembly.
The commission shall submit the report, not later than the first
day of February each year, in accordance with section 101.68 of
the Revised Code. The commission also shall post the report on
the commission web site.
Sec. 4933.60. (A) (1) The public utilities commission shall adopt rules to implement sections 4933.51 to 4933.59 of the Revised Code.
(2) In conjunction with the department of development, the
commission also shall adopt rules to establish a process within
the percentage of income payment program for distributing the
money collected from fines ordered by the commission under
section 4933.55 of the Revised Code. The rules shall specify
that the money collected shall be used to assist customers with
the payment of past-due public utility bills as authorized under
section 4933.58 of the Revised Code.
(B) Notwithstanding any provision of section 121.95 of the Revised Code to the contrary, a regulatory restriction contained in a rule adopted under division (A) of this section is not subject to sections 121.95 to 121.953 of the Revised Code.