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Read. Follow. Verify.Ohio bill requires electric utilities to issue bill credits and food-spoilage reimbursements after extended power outages
Last action · September 23, 2026: IntroducedSponsors: Tristan Rader and 17 others
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What This Bill Would Do
Electric distribution utilities in Ohio must provide bill credits to residential and nonresidential customers and reimburse them for spoiled food and medicine when power outages exceed specified hourly thresholds. The legislation prohibits utilities from passing these credit and reimbursement costs on to customers.
Residential customers experiencing prolonged outages receive minimum credits starting at $50 or their monthly bill amount, alongside up to $600 for documented food and medicine spoilage, shifting the financial liability of extended outages entirely onto the utility companies.
- House Bill 1014 was introduced in the 136th General Assembly of Ohio to establish statutory consumer protections regarding utility service reliability. context
- Ohio electric distribution utilities operate under regulated frameworks overseen by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. context
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 distribution utility customers
Customers are eligible to receive mandatory bill credits and food or medicine spoilage reimbursements when power outages exceed specified duration thresholds.
Electric distribution utilities
Utilities are required to track outages, disburse mandatory bill credits and reimbursements within specified timelines, and absorb the financial costs without passing them on to ratepayers.
Public Utilities Commission
The commission is tasked with adjusting customer accommodation rates annually based on the consumer price index, adjudicating utility waiver petitions, and adopting implementation rules.
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 qualifies as a catastrophic condition for power outages?
How much can I get reimbursed for spoiled food if I do not have grocery receipts?
Can electric utilities raise rates on customers to pay for these credits and reimbursements?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently filed. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Committee.
Procedural history
1 action- Sep 23, 2026HouseIntroducedIntroduced
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
Show 13 more sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Shift of Financial Liability for Power Outages
The bill shifts the economic burden of grid failures onto electric distribution utilities by barring cost recovery from ratepayers and instituting strict mandatory payouts.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.legislature.ohio.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance85How 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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