Ohio Consumers Power Alliance

10/04/2026

Bipartisan lawmakers urge FERC to block a $33B BlackRock-led buyout of AES Ohio's parent, warning that "the private equity industry's involvement in the public utility market has significant implications for consumers' energy costs"

A bipartisan group of lawmakers urged federal regulators to block the multibillion-dollar sale of power company AES, warning the deal could raise electricity costs for utility customers to benefit …

09/22/2026

🌞 Good news! 🌞 State lawmakers have spent years adding hurdles for solar that don't apply to fossil fuels, but Oak Run Solar just won its permit. The project pairs 800 MW of solar with 300 MW of battery storage, so clean energy is available even when the sun goes down. https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/solar/ohio-biggest-solar-project-gets-permit

09/21/2026

A new state audit required under Ohio House Bill 15 found that the PUCO has no strategic plan for rising electricity demand, data center growth or the new 2025 laws it must follow. Ohioans' electric bills have spiked and the agency meant to hold utilities accountable is not doing its job.

A state audit of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio shows that bills have spiked dramatically, and the agency exhibits a lack of preparation for rising energy needs.

09/21/2026

BlackRock is about to co-own AES Ohio, replacing public shareholders. Our PUCO with a long history of siding with utility interests just approved the sale to a private equity fund it has no authority to regulate. AES Ohio serves over 500,000 customers in the Dayton area. https://finance.yahoo.com/energy/articles/state-regulators-approve-sale-aes-035900879.html

09/20/2026

Consumer prices are up 27% since January 2021, and energy is now the single biggest driver of that inflation, up nearly 18% over the past year alone.

The price of eating out, filling a gas tank and buying a house keeps rising. The Fed raised rates to try to tamp down inflation, but that will make borrowing more expensive too.

09/17/2026

Regardless of party, when grassroots pressure and voter turnout shift state governments, energy and climate policy tends to follow. State elections have consequences. https://insideclimatenews.org/news/17092026/inside-clean-energy-key-state-elections/

09/14/2026

Ohio passed a law that blocks residents' air quality data from being used to hold polluters accountable. A Middletown resident lives near a plant that rains particles on her house. She has a monitor in her front yard, but the law bars her data as evidence.

Across several states, a quiet chemical industry campaign is making it harder to hold polluters accountable.

09/13/2026

Good news! 🌞 Ohio regulators unanimously approved a 149 MW solar and 149 MW battery storage project in Vinton County last month. New state rules are now identifying more former mine lands and brownfields across Ohio as priority sites for this kind of development.

The solar-plus-storage project faced no opposition despite growing pushback to clean energy in the state — likely because of its brownfield location.

09/10/2026

Data centers might not even get built, but Ohio families could still end up paying higher power bills for them anyway. New investment should grow Ohio's economy, not turn ratepayers into an insurance plan for projects that may never happen.

Critics question sky-high electricity demand predictions for Ohio, which rely on ambitious data center plans and put upward pressure on utility bills.

09/09/2026

Ohio's data center tax break hit $1.5 billion last year. That is more than 10 times what state estimates originally projected. When a state undercuts its own tax base like this, the shortfall has to be made up somewhere, often through other taxes or reduced services https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/states-that-gave-data-centers-billions-in-tax-breaks-are-now-ripping-up-the-deals-4879c4f9