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Read. Follow. Verify.Ohio Bill Prohibits Utilities from Passing Political Spending Costs to Customers
Last action · October 1, 2025: Referred to Public UtilitiesSponsors: Kent Smith and 2 others
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What This Bill Would Do
Electric, gas, and natural gas utilities in Ohio are prohibited from recovering the costs of political contributions, lobbying, trade association dues, and public policy advocacy from their customers through utility rates or fees. If the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio determines a utility violated this prohibition, it must order refunds with interest and impose a fine equal to twenty times the illegal charge. Collected fines will be deposited into a new state fund to help customers pay past-due utility bills.
Who It Would Affect
Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
electric light companies
Electric companies are prohibited from passing political expenditure costs to customers, must submit annual expenditure reports, and face penalties and refunds for violations.
gas and natural gas companies
Gas companies are barred from recovering political spending through customer rates and must comply with new annual reporting and penalty structures.
utility customers
Customers are shielded from paying political expenditures through their utility rates and may receive refunds or past-due bill assistance from collected fines.
Key Facts
You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.
Frequently Asked Questions
What counts as a political expenditure under this bill?
What happens if a public utility charges customers for political expenses?
Where do the collected fines go?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently in committee. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Floor Vote.
Procedural history
2 actions- Oct 1, 2025SenateCommitteeReferred to Public Utilities
- Aug 19, 2025SenateIntroducedIntroduced
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Prohibition of Rate-Recovery for Lobbying and Political Spending
The bill creates an explicit statutory barrier preventing regulated electric and gas utilities from shifting political and lobbying overhead onto captive customer bases.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.legislature.ohio.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance75How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy65Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz45Current news / social attention level
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