The civic record
Read. Follow. Verify.Ohio HB 467 prohibits electric and gas utilities from charging customers for political and lobbying expenses
Last action · October 1, 2025: Referred to EnergySponsors: Lauren McNally and 6 others
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What This Bill Would Do
Ohio House Bill 467 bans electric light, gas, and natural gas companies from passing political expenditures, lobbying costs, trade association dues, and public relations expenses on to customers through rates or fees. If a utility violates the ban, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio must order refunds with interest and impose a fine equal to twenty times the illegally charged amount. Collected fines will go into a state fund administered by the Department of Development 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, gas, and natural gas companies
Public utilities are prohibited from recovering political expenditures from customers, must file annual expenditure reports, and face fines equal to twenty times any illegal charges.
Utility customers
Customers are shielded from paying for utility political expenditures, are eligible for refunds with interest if overcharged, and may receive assistance for past-due bills from collected fine revenues.
Public Utilities Commission of Ohio
The commission must review utility charges, adjudicate violations, order refunds, impose twenty-fold fines, adopt implementation rules, and publish annual utility expenditure reports.
Department of Development
The department is responsible for administering the political activity fine fund and distributing money through the percentage of income payment plan program.
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
Can utility companies still make political contributions or lobby?
What happens if a utility company charges customers for political expenses?
Where do the collected fines go?
Are utility political expenditures open to the public?
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, 2025HouseCommitteeReferred to Energy
- Sep 23, 2025HouseIntroducedIntroduced
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.
Shift of Political Costs to Shareholders
The bill creates a direct statutory mechanism preventing utilities from shifting political, lobbying, and trade association expenses onto ratepayers.
Recycling Penalties into Customer Relief
Fines collected from utilities for regulatory violations are directly funneled back into customer assistance programs for past-due bills via the percentage of income payment plan.
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
- Buzz40Current news / social attention level
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