Thanks to the controversial House Bill 6, electricity customers in Ohio are about to get an unwelcome surprise in their holiday stockings—new charges that will appear on electricity bills starting January 1. 

In the wake of the scandal surrounding the passage of House Bill 6, the Ohio General Assembly is now considering delaying the new charges, which were imposed to subsidize several nuclear and coal power plants in Ohio and Indiana. However, Ohioans deserve more than a delay, they deserve an end to taxpayer-funded subsidies, entirely.

The best policy for Ohioans is the one proposed by Representative Mark Romanchuk (R-Ontario), who has introduced legislation that repeals the taxpayer-funded nuclear bailout, and ends other taxpayer-funded subsidies for the coal plants and for renewable energy companies. These subsidies—no matter what industry they protect—increase energy bills, lead to job loss, and harm those who can least afford it.

Under Representative Romanchuk’s proposal, Ohio consumers would enjoy nearly $3 billion in savings over the next decade. 

But the savings aren’t the only reason that these taxpayer-funded subsidies should be repealed. The nuclear plant bailout and the renewable portfolio standards exemplify the dangers that occur when government subsidizes businesses. Taxpayer-funded subsidies not only take money from the public and give it to privately owned companies, they increase the costs of goods for consumers, and this crony capitalism corrupts good government and corrodes public trust. 

It is time for Ohio policymakers to get out of the business of giving businesses taxpayer-funded subsidies. The gift they need to give every Bob and Betty Buckeye this holiday season is the end of energy subsidies for nuclear, coal, natural gas, and renewables. Representative Romanchuk has offered a policy that does just that and “Gosh, oh gee, how happy we’d be” if lawmakers adopted it and ended subsidies. 

Greg R. Lawson is the research fellow at The Buckeye Institute.