REPRESENTATIVES Setzer, Olman

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:

Section 1. That sections 4905.10, 4911.18, and 4929.01 be amended and sections 4929.20, 4929.21, 4929.22, 4929.23, 4929.24, 4929.25, and 4929.26 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:

Sec. 4905.10.  (A) For the sole purpose of maintaining and administering the public utilities commission and exercising its supervision and jurisdiction over the railroads and public utilities of the this state, an amount equivalent to the appropriation from the public utilities fund created under division (B) of this section to the public utilities commission for railroad and public utilities regulation in each fiscal year shall be apportioned among and assessed against each railroad and public utility within the this state by the commission by first computing an assessment as though it were to be made in proportion to the intrastate gross earnings or receipts, excluding earnings or receipts from sales to other public utilities for resale, of the railroad or public utility for the calendar year next preceding that in which the assessment is made. The commission may include in that first computation any amount of a railroad's or public utility's intrastate gross earnings or receipts that were underreported in a prior year. In addition to whatever penalties apply under the Revised Code to such underreporting, the commission shall assess the railroad or public utility interest at the rate stated in division (A) of section 1343.01 of the Revised Code. The commission shall deposit any interest so collected into the public utilities fund.

The final computation of the assessment shall consist of imposing upon each railroad and public utility whose assessment under the first computation would have been fifty dollars or less an assessment of fifty dollars and recomputing the assessments of the remaining railroads and public utilities by apportioning an amount equal to the appropriation to the public utilities commission for administration of the utilities division in each fiscal year less the total amount to be recovered from those paying the minimum assessment, in proportion to the intrastate gross earnings or receipts of the remaining railroads and public utilities for the calendar year next preceding that in which the assessments are made.

In the case of an assessment based on intrastate gross receipts under this section against a public utility that is an electric utility as defined in section 4928.01 of the Revised Code, or an electric services company, electric cooperative, or governmental aggregator subject to certification under section 4928.08 of the Revised Code, such receipts shall be those specified in the utility's, company's, cooperative's, or aggregator's most recent report of intrastate gross receipts and sales of kilowatt hours of electricity, filed with the commission pursuant to division (F) of section 4928.06 of the Revised Code, and verified by the commission.

In the case of an assessment based on intrastate gross receipts under this section against a retail natural gas supplier or governmental aggregator subject to certification under section 4929.20 of the Revised Code, such receipts shall be those specified in the supplier's or aggregator's most recent report of intrastate gross receipts and sales of hundred cubic feet of natural gas, filed with the commission pursuant to division (B) of section 4929.23 of the Revised Code, and verified by the commission.

(B) On or before the first day of October in each year, the commission shall notify each such railroad and public utility of the sum assessed against it, whereupon payment shall be made to the commission, which shall deposit it into the state treasury to the credit of the public utilities fund, which is hereby created. Any such amounts paid into the fund but not expended by the commission shall be credited ratably, after first deducting any deficits accumulated from prior years, by the commission to railroads and public utilities that pay more than the minimum assessment, according to the respective portions of such sum assessable against them for the ensuing calendar year. The assessments for such calendar year shall be reduced correspondingly.

(C) Within five days after the beginning of each fiscal year, the director of budget and management shall transfer from the general revenue fund to the public utilities fund an amount sufficient for maintaining and administering the public utilities commission and exercising its supervision and jurisdiction over the railroads and public utilities of the state during the first four months of the fiscal year. The director shall transfer the same amount back to the general revenue fund from the public utilities fund at such time as the director determines that the balance of the public utilities fund is sufficient to support the appropriations from the fund for the fiscal year. The director may transfer less than that amount if the director determines that the revenues of the public utilities fund during the fiscal year will be insufficient to support the appropriations from the fund for the fiscal year, in which case the amount not paid back to the general revenue fund shall be payable to the general revenue fund in future fiscal years.

(D) For the purpose of this section only, "public utility" includes, in:

(1) In addition to an electric utility as defined in section 4928.01 of the Revised Code, an electric services company, an electric cooperative, or a governmental aggregator subject to certification under section 4928.08 of the Revised Code, to the extent of the company's, cooperative's, or aggregator's engagement in the business of supplying or arranging for the supply in this state of any retail electric service for which it must be so certified;

(2) In addition to a natural gas company as defined in section 4929.01 of the Revised Code, a retail natural gas supplier or governmental aggregator subject to certification under section 4929.20 of the Revised Code, to the extent of the supplier's or aggregator's engagement in the business of supplying or arranging for the supply in this state of any competitive retail natural gas service for which it must be certified.

(E) Each public utilities commissioner shall receive a salary fixed at the level set by pay range 49 under schedule E-2 of section 124.152 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 4911.18.  (A) For the sole purpose of maintaining and administering the office of the consumers' counsel and exercising the powers of the consumers' counsel under this chapter, an amount equal to the appropriation to the office of the consumers' counsel in each fiscal year shall be apportioned among and assessed against each public utility within the this state, as defined in section 4911.01 of the Revised Code, by first computing an assessment as though it were to be made in proportion to the intrastate gross earnings or receipts of the public utility for the calendar year next preceding that in which the assessment is made, excluding earnings or receipts from sales to other public utilities for resale. The office may include in that first computation any amount of a public utility's intrastate gross earnings or receipts underreported in a prior year. In addition to whatever penalties apply under the Revised Code to such underreporting, the office shall assess the public utility interest at the rate stated in division (A) of section 1343.01 of the Revised Code. The office shall deposit any interest so collected into the consumers' counsel operating fund.

The final computation of the assessment shall consist of imposing upon each public utility whose assessment under the first computation would have been fifty dollars or less an assessment of fifty dollars and recomputing the assessment of the remaining companies by apportioning an amount equal to the appropriation to the office of consumers' counsel in each fiscal year less the total amount to be recovered from those paying the minimum assessment, in proportion to the intrastate gross earnings or receipts of the remaining companies for the calendar year next preceding that in which the assessments are made, excluding earnings or receipts from sales to other public utilities for resale.

In the case of an assessment based on intrastate gross receipts under this section against a public utility that is an electric utility as defined in section 4928.01 of the Revised Code, or an electric services company, electric cooperative, or governmental aggregator subject to certification under section 4928.08 of the Revised Code, such receipts shall be those specified in the utility's, company's, cooperative's, or aggregator's most recent report of intrastate gross receipts and sales of kilowatt hours of electricity, filed with the public utilities commission pursuant to division (F) of section 4928.06 of the Revised Code, and verified by the commission.

In the case of an assessment based on intrastate gross receipts under this section against a retail natural gas supplier or governmental aggregator subject to certification under section 4929.20 of the Revised Code, such receipts shall be those specified in the supplier's or aggregator's most recent report of intrastate gross receipts and sales of hundred cubic feet of natural gas, filed with the commission pursuant to division (B) of section 4929.23 of the Revised Code, and verified by the commission.

(B) On or before the first day of October in each year, the office of consumers' counsel shall notify each public utility of the sum assessed against it, whereupon payment shall be made to the counsel, who shall deposit it into the state treasury to the credit of the consumers' counsel operating fund, which is hereby created. Any such amounts paid into the fund but not expended by the office shall be credited ratably by the office to the public utilities that pay more than the minimum assessment, according to the respective portions of such sum assessable against them for the ensuing calendar year, after first deducting any deficits accumulated from prior years. The assessments for such calendar year shall be reduced correspondingly.

(C) Within five days after the beginning of each fiscal year, the director of budget and management shall transfer from the general revenue fund to the consumers' counsel operating fund an amount sufficient for maintaining and administering the office of the consumers' counsel and exercising the powers of the consumers' counsel under this chapter during the first four months of the fiscal year. Not later than the thirty-first day of December of the fiscal year, the same amount shall be transferred back to the general revenue fund from the consumers' counsel operating fund.

(D) As used in this section, "public utility" includes, in:

(1) In addition to an electric utility as defined in section 4928.01 of the Revised Code, an electric services company, an electric cooperative, or a governmental aggregator subject to certification under section 4928.08 of the Revised Code, to the extent of the company's, cooperative's, or aggregator's engagement in the business of supplying or arranging for the supply in this state of any retail electric service for which it must be so certified;

(2) In addition to a natural gas company as defined in section 4929.01 of the Revised Code, a retail natural gas supplier or governmental aggregator subject to certification under section 4929.20 of the Revised Code, to the extent of the supplier's or aggregator's engagement in the business of supplying or arranging for the supply in this state of any competitive retail natural gas service for which it must be certified.

Sec. 4929.01.  As used in this chapter:

(A) "Alternative rate plan" means a method, alternate to the method of section 4909.15 of the Revised Code, for establishing rates and charges, under which rates and charges may be established for a commodity sales service or ancillary service that is not exempt pursuant to section 4929.04 of the Revised Code or for a distribution service. Alternative rate plans may include, but are not limited to, methods that provide adequate and reliable natural gas services and goods in this state; minimize the costs and time expended in the regulatory process; tend to assess the costs of any natural gas service or goods to the entity, service, or goods that cause such costs to be incurred; afford rate stability; promote and reward efficiency, quality of service, or cost containment by a natural gas company; or provide sufficient flexibility and incentives to the natural gas industry to achieve high quality, technologically advanced, and readily available natural gas services and goods at just and reasonable rates and charges. Alternative rate plans also may include, but are not limited to, automatic adjustments based on a specified index or changes in a specified cost or costs.

(B) "Ancillary service" means a service that is ancillary to the receipt or delivery of natural gas to consumers, including, but not limited to, storage, pooling, balancing, and transmission.

(C) "Commodity sales service" means the sale of natural gas to consumers, exclusive of any distribution or ancillary service.

(D) "Comparable service" means any regulated service or goods whose availability, quality, price, terms, and conditions are the same as or better than those of the services or goods that the natural gas company provides to a person with which it is affiliated or which it controls, or, as to any consumer, that the natural gas company offers to that consumer as part of a bundled service that includes both regulated and exempt services or goods.

(E) "Consumer" means any person or association of persons purchasing, delivering, storing, or transporting, or seeking to purchase, deliver, store, or transport, natural gas, including industrial consumers, commercial consumers, and residential consumers, but not including natural gas companies.

(F) "Distribution service" means the delivery of natural gas to a consumer at the consumer's facilities, by and through the instrumentalities and facilities of a natural gas company, regardless of the party having title to the natural gas.

(G) "Natural gas company" means a natural gas company, as defined in section 4905.03 of the Revised Code, that is a public utility as defined in section 4905.02 of the Revised Code and excludes a retail natural gas supplier.

(H) "Person," except as provided in division (M) of this section, has the same meaning as in section 1.59 of the Revised Code, and includes this state and any political subdivision, agency, or other instrumentality of this state and includes the United States and any agency or other instrumentality of the United States.

(I) "Billing or collection agent" means a fully independent agent, not affiliated with or otherwise controlled by a retail natural gas supplier subject to certification under section 4929.20 of the Revised Code, to the extent that the agent is under contract with such supplier solely to provide billing and collection for competitive retail natural gas service on behalf of the supplier.

(J) "Competitive retail natural gas service" means any natural gas service that may be competitively offered to consumers in this state within the service area of a natural gas company pursuant to revised schedules approved under division (B) of section 4929.26 of the Revised Code or as a result of a rule or order adopted or issued by the public utilities commission under Chapter 4905. of the Revised Code or an exemption granted by the commission under sections 4929.04 to 4929.08 of the Revised Code.

(K) "Governmental aggregator" means a legislative authority of a municipal corporation, a board of township trustees, or a board of county commissioners acting as an aggregator for the provision of competitive retail natural gas service under authority conferred under section 4929.25 of the Revised Code.

(L) "Retail natural gas load center" means a natural gas-consuming facility of any type or character that is owned, occupied, controlled, or used by a person at a single location and has been, is, or will be connected to and served at a metered point of delivery, and to which facility competitive retail natural gas service has been, is, or will be rendered.

(M) "Retail natural gas supplier" means any person, as defined in section 1.59 of the Revised Code notwithstanding division (H) of this section, that is engaged on a for-profit or not-for-profit basis in the business of supplying or arranging for the supply of a competitive retail natural gas service to consumers in this state. "Retail natural gas supplier" includes a marketer, broker, or aggregator, but excludes a natural gas company, a governmental aggregator, or a billing or collection agent, and excludes a producer or gatherer of gas to the extent such producer or gatherer is not a natural gas company under section 4905.03 of the Revised Code and is not engaged on a for-profit or not-for-profit basis in the business of supplying or arranging for the supply of a competitive retail natural gas service to consumers in this state.

Sec. 4929.20. (A) Beginning on the effective date of initial rules adopted pursuant to this division to establish a certification system for natural gas suppliers and governmental aggregators, no retail natural gas supplier or governmental aggregator shall provide a competitive retail natural gas service to a consumer in this state without first being certified by the public utilities commission regarding its managerial, technical, and financial capability to provide that service and providing a financial guarantee sufficient to protect customers and natural gas companies from default. Certification shall be granted pursuant to procedures and standards the commission shall prescribe in accordance with rules adopted under section 4929.10 of the Revised Code. However, certification or certification renewal shall be deemed approved thirty days after the filing of an application with the commission unless the commission suspends that approval for good cause shown. In the case of such a suspension, the commission shall act to approve or deny certification or certification renewal to the applicant not later than ninety days after the date of the suspension.

(B) Capability standards adopted in rules pursuant to division (A) of this section shall be sufficient to ensure compliance with the minimum service requirements established under section 4929.23 of the Revised Code and with section 4929.22 of the Revised Code. The standards shall allow flexibility for voluntary aggregation, to encourage market creativity in responding to consumer needs and demands. The rules shall include procedures for biennially renewing certification.

(C) The commission may suspend, rescind, or conditionally rescind the certification of any retail natural gas supplier or governmental aggregator issued under this section if the commission determines, after reasonable notice and opportunity for hearing, that the retail natural gas supplier or governmental aggregator has failed to comply with any applicable certification standards or has engaged in anticompetitive or unfair, deceptive, or unconscionable acts or practices in this state.

(D) No natural gas company, on and after the effective date of initial rules adopted pursuant to division (A) of this section to establish a certification system for retail natural gas suppliers and governmental aggregators, shall knowingly distribute natural gas, to a retail consumer in this state, for any retail natural gas supplier or governmental aggregator that has not been certified by the commission pursuant to this section.

Sec. 4929.21.  (A)(1) Beginning on the effective date of initial rules adopted pursuant to division (A) of section 4929.20 of the Revised Code to establish a certification system for retail natural gas suppliers and governmental aggregators, no person shall operate in this state as a retail natural gas supplier, unless that person first does both of the following:

(a) Consents irrevocably to the jurisdiction of the courts of this state and service of process in this state, including, without limitation, service of summonses and subpoenas, for any civil or criminal proceeding arising out of or relating to such operation, by providing that irrevocable consent in accordance with division (A)(4) of this section;

(b) Designates an agent authorized to receive that service of process in this state, by filing with the public utilities commission a document designating that agent.

(2) Beginning on the effective date of initial rules adopted pursuant to division (A) of section 4929.20 of the Revised Code to establish a certification system for retail natural gas suppliers and governmental aggregators, no person shall continue to operate as such retail natural gas supplier unless that person continues to consent to such jurisdiction and service of process in this state and continues to designate an agent as provided under this division, by refiling in accordance with division (A)(4) of this section the appropriate documents filed under division (A)(1) of this section or, as applicable, the appropriate amended documents filed under division (A)(3) of this section. Such refiling shall occur during the month of December of every fourth year after the initial filing of a document under division (A)(1) of this section.

(3) If the address of the person filing a document under division (A)(1) or (2) of this section changes, or if a person's agent or the address of the agent changes, from that listed on the most recently filed of such documents, the person shall file an amended document containing the new information.

(4) The consent and designation required by divisions (A)(1), (2), and (3) of this section shall be in writing, on forms prescribed by the commission. The original of each such document or amended document shall be legible and shall be filed with the commission, with a copy filed with the office of the consumers' counsel and with the attorney general's office.

(B) A person who enters this state pursuant to a summons, subpoena, or other form of process authorized by this section is not subject to arrest or service of process, whether civil or criminal, in connection with other matters that arose before the person's entrance into this state pursuant to such summons, subpoena, or other form of process.

(C) Divisions (A) and (B) of this section do not apply to any of the following:

(1) A corporation incorporated under the laws of this state that has appointed a statutory agent pursuant to section 1701.07 or 1702.06 of the Revised Code;

(2) A foreign corporation licensed to transact business in this state that has appointed a designated agent pursuant to section 1703.041 of the Revised Code;

(3) Any other person that is a resident of this state or that files consent to service of process and designates a statutory agent pursuant to other laws of this state.

Sec. 4929.22. For the protection of consumers in this state, the public utilities commission shall adopt rules under section 4929.10 of the Revised Code specifying the necessary minimum service requirements of a retail natural gas supplier or governmental aggregator subject to certification under section 4929.20 of the Revised Code regarding the provision, directly or through its billing and collection agent, of any competitive retail natural gas service for which it is subject to certification. Rules adopted under this section shall include a prohibition against unfair, deceptive, and unconscionable acts and practices in the marketing, solicitation, and sale of such a competitive retail natural gas service and in the administration of any contract for service, and also shall include additional consumer protections concerning all of the following:

(A) Contract disclosure. The rules shall include requirements that a retail natural gas supplier or governmental aggregator subject to certification under section 4929.20 of the Revised Code do both of the following:

(1) Provide consumers with adequate, accurate, and understandable pricing and terms and conditions of service, including any switching fees, and with a document containing the terms and conditions of pricing and service before the consumer enters into the contract for service;

(2) Disclose the conditions under which a customer may rescind a contract without penalty.

(B) Service termination. The rules shall include disclosure of the terms identifying how customers may switch or terminate service, including any required notice and any penalties.

(C) Minimum content of customer bills. The rules shall include all of the following requirements, which shall be standardized:

(1) Price disclosure and disclosures of total billing units for the billing period and historical annual usage;

(2) To the maximum extent practicable, separate listing of each service component to enable a customer to recalculate its bill for accuracy;

(3) Identification of the supplier of each service;

(4) Statement of where and how payment may be made and provision of a toll-free or local customer assistance and complaint number for the retail natural gas supplier or governmental aggregator, as well as a consumer assistance telephone number or numbers for state agencies, such as the commission, the office of the consumers' counsel, and the attorney general's office, with the available hours noted;

(5) Other than for the first billing after the effective date of initial rules adopted pursuant to division (A) of section 4929.20 of the Revised Code to establish a certification system for retail natural gas suppliers and governmental aggregators, highlighting and clear explanation on each customer bill, for two consecutive billing periods, of any changes in the rates, terms, and conditions of service.

(D) Disconnection and service termination, including requirements with respect to master-metered buildings. The rules shall include policies and procedures that are consistent with sections 4933.12 and 4933.122 of the Revised Code and the commission's rules adopted under those sections, and that provide for all of the following:

(1) Coordination between suppliers for the purpose of maintaining service;

(2) The allocation of partial payments between suppliers when service components are jointly billed;

(3) A prohibition against blocking, or authorizing the blocking of, customer access to a noncompetitive retail natural gas service when a customer is delinquent in payments to the retail natural gas supplier for a competitive retail natural gas service;

(4) A prohibition against switching, or authorizing the switching of, a customer's supplier of competitive retail natural gas service without the prior consent of the customer in accordance with appropriate confirmation practices, which may include independent, third-party verification procedures.

(5) A requirement of disclosure of the conditions under which a customer may rescind a decision to switch its supplier without penalty;

(6) Specification of any required notice and any penalty for early termination of contract.

(E) Minimum service quality, safety, and reliability.

(F) Customer information. The rules shall include requirements that the retail natural gas supplier or governmental aggregator make generic customer load pattern information available to other retail natural gas suppliers, governmental aggregators, or natural gas companies on a comparable and nondiscriminatory basis, and make customer-specific information available to other retail natural gas suppliers, governmental aggregators, or natural gas companies on a comparable and nondiscriminatory basis unless, as to customer-specific information, the customer objects. The rules shall ensure that each retail natural gas supplier or governmental aggregator provide clear and frequent notice to its customers of the right to object and of applicable procedures. The rules shall establish the exact language that shall be used in all such notices.

Sec. 4929.23. (A) A retail natural gas supplier or governmental aggregator subject to certification under section 4929.20 of the Revised Code shall provide the public utilities commission with such information, regarding a competitive retail natural gas service for which it is subject to certification, as the commission considers necessary to carry out sections 4929.20 to 4929.26 of the Revised Code. The commission shall take such measures as it considers necessary to protect the confidentiality of any such information.

(B) The commission shall require each retail natural gas supplier or governmental aggregator subject to certification under section 4929.20 of the Revised Code to file an annual report of such receipts and sales from the provision of those competitive retail natural gas services for which it is subject to certification. For the purpose of the reports, sales of hundred cubic feet of natural gas are deemed to occur at the meter of the retail customer.

Sec. 4929.24.  (A)(1) The public utilities commission has jurisdiction under section 4905.26 of the Revised Code, upon complaint of any person or complaint or initiative of the commission regarding the provision by a retail natural gas supplier or governmental aggregator subject to certification under section 4929.20 of the Revised Code of any service for which it is subject to certification.

(2) The commission also has jurisdiction under section 4905.26 of the Revised Code, upon complaint of any person or complaint or initiative of the commission to determine whether a retail natural gas supplier or governmental aggregator subject to certification under section 4929.20 of the Revised Code has violated or failed to comply with any provision of sections 4929.20 to 4929.23 of the Revised Code regarding a competitive retail natural gas service for which it is subject to certification or any rule or order adopted or issued by the commission for purposes of those sections.

(B) In addition to its authority under division (C) of section 4929.20 of the Revised Code and to any other remedies provided by law, the commission, after reasonable notice and opportunity for hearing in accordance with section 4905.26 of the Revised Code, may do any of the following:

(1) Order rescission of a contract, or restitution to customers, in any complaint brought pursuant to division (A)(1) or (2) of this section;

(2) Order any remedy or forfeiture provided under sections 4905.54 to 4905.60 and 4905.64 of the Revised Code upon a finding under division (A)(2) of this section that the retail natural gas supplier or governmental aggregator subject to certification under section 4929.20 of the Revised Code has violated or failed to comply, regarding a competitive retail natural gas service for which it is subject to certification, with any provision of sections 4929.20 to 4929.23 of the Revised Code or any rule or order adopted or issued under those sections.

(C)(1) In addition to the authority conferred under section 4911.15 of the Revised Code, the consumers' counsel may file a complaint under division (A)(1) or (2) of this section on behalf of residential consumers in this state or appear before the commission as a representative of those consumers pursuant to any complaint filed under division (A)(1) or (2) of this section.

(2) In addition to the authority conferred under section 4911.19 of the Revised Code, the consumers' counsel, upon reasonable grounds, may file with the commission under section 4905.26 of the Revised Code a complaint for discovery if the recipient of an inquiry under section 4911.19 of the Revised Code fails to provide a response within the time specified in that section.

(D) The commission's jurisdiction with respect to a natural gas company under Chapter 4905. of the Revised Code extends to any violation of division (D) of section 4929.20 or any failure to comply with division (B) of section 4929.26 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 4929.25. (A) The legislative authority of a municipal corporation may adopt an ordinance, or the board of township trustees of a township or the board of county commissioners of a county may adopt a resolution, under which, in accordance with this section, the legislative authority or board may aggregate competitive retail natural gas service for the retail natural gas loads that are located, respectively, within the municipal corporation, township, or unincorporated area of the county and for which there is a choice of supplier of that service pursuant to revised schedules approved under division (B) of section 4929.26 of the Revised Code or as a result of a rule or order adopted or issued by the commission under Chapter 4905. of the Revised Code or an exemption granted by the commission under sections 4929.04 to 4929.08 of the Revised Code. The legislative authority or board also may exercise such authority jointly with any other such legislative authority or board. For the purpose of the aggregation, the legislative authority or board may enter into service agreements to facilitate the sale and purchase of the service for the retail natural gas load centers. An ordinance or resolution under this division shall specify whether the aggregation will occur only with the prior consent of each person owning, occupying, controlling, or using a retail natural gas load center proposed to be aggregated or will occur automatically for all such persons pursuant to the opt-out requirements of division (D) of this section.

(B) If an ordinance or resolution adopted under division (A) of this section specifies that aggregation will occur automatically as described in that division, the ordinance or resolution shall direct the board of elections to submit the question of the authority to aggregate to the electors of the respective municipal corporation, township, or unincorporated area of a county at a special election on the day of the next primary or general election in the municipal corporation, township, or county. The legislative authority or board shall certify a copy of the ordinance or resolution to the board of elections not less than seventy-five days before the day of the special election. No ordinance or resolution adopted under division (A) of this section that provides for an election under this division shall take effect unless approved by a majority of the electors voting upon the ordinance or resolution at the election held pursuant to this division.

(C) Upon the applicable requisite authority under divisions (A) and (B) of this section, the legislative authority or board shall develop a plan of operation and governance for the aggregation program so authorized. Before adopting a plan under this division, the legislative authority or board shall hold at least two public hearings on the plan. Before the first hearing, the legislative authority or board shall publish notice of the hearings once a week for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the jurisdiction. The notice shall summarize the plan and state the date, time, and location of each hearing.

(D) No legislative authority or board, pursuant to an ordinance or resolution under divisions (A) and (B) of this section that provides for automatic aggregation as described in division (A) of this section, shall aggregate the retail natural gas load of any retail natural gas load center located within its jurisdiction unless it in advance clearly discloses to the person owning, occupying, controlling, or using the load center that the person will be enrolled automatically in the aggregation program and will remain so enrolled unless the person affirmatively elects by a stated procedure not to be so enrolled. The disclosure shall state prominently the rates, charges, and other terms and conditions of enrollment. The stated procedure shall allow any person enrolled in the aggregation program the opportunity to opt out of the program every two years, without paying a switching fee. Any such person that opts out of the aggregation program pursuant to the stated procedure shall default to such provision of the service within the person's service area as shall be specified pursuant to rule or order adopted or issued by the commission under this chapter, until the person chooses an alternative supplier.

(E)(1) With respect to a governmental aggregation for a municipal corporation that is authorized pursuant to divisions (A) to (D) of this section, resolutions may be proposed by initiative or referendum petitions in accordance with sections 731.25 to 731.41 of the Revised Code.

(2) With respect to a governmental aggregation for a township or the unincorporated area of a county, which aggregation is authorized pursuant to divisions (A) to (D) of this section, resolutions may be proposed by initiative or referendum petitions in accordance with sections 731.25 to 731.40 of the Revised Code, except that:

(a) The petitions shall be filed, respectively, with the township clerk or the board of county commissioners, who shall perform those duties imposed under those sections upon the city auditor or village clerk.

(b) The petitions shall contain the signatures of not less than ten per cent of the total number of electors in the township or the unincorporated area of the county, respectively, who voted for the office of governor at the preceding general election for that office in that area.

(F) A governmental aggregator under division (A) of this section is not a public utility engaging in the wholesale purchase and resale of natural gas, and provision of the aggregated service is not a wholesale utility transaction. A governmental aggregator shall be subject to supervision and regulation by the public utilities commission only to the extent of any competitive retail natural gas service it provides and commission authority under sections 4929.20 to 4929.25 of the Revised Code. The commission has authority under section 4929.10 of the Revised Code to adopt such rules as it considers necessary to carry out this section.

Sec. 4929.26.  A governmental aggregator may petition the public utilities commission to require a natural gas company to provide natural gas distribution service on a comparable and nondiscriminatory basis to consumers that are within the company's service area in this state and also are within the area of the governmental aggregation; and a retail natural gas supplier may petition the commission to require the provision of such service to all consumers within the company's service area. Upon such application, the commission, after notice and opportunity for hearing and by order, may require that the company provide the service within the area specified in the petition, provided that the commission finds that the provision of the service within the area is in the public interest. The applicant shall have the burden of proof under this division. Chapter 4903. of the Revised Code shall apply to a proceeding under this division.

(B) Upon the issuance of an order under division (A) of this section requiring distribution service on a comparable and nondiscriminatory basis within the area specified in the order, the company shall file with the commission under section 4905.30 of the Revised Code revised schedules under which the company shall provide the service so ordered. The commission shall act promptly to approve the schedules.

Section 2. That existing sections 4905.10, 4911.18, and 4929.01 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.

Section 3. Any person, as defined in section 1.59 of the Revised Code, that, prior to the effective date of initial rules adopted pursuant to division (A) of section 4929.20 of the Revised Code as enacted by this act to establish a certification system for retail natural gas suppliers and governmental aggregators, is engaged on a for-profit or not-for-profit basis in the business of supplying or arranging for the supply of natural gas commodity to consumers in this state as a result of a rule or order adopted or issued prior to the effective date of this act by the Public Utilities Commission under Chapter 4905. of the Revised Code, may continue to engage in such business until the Commission acts upon the person's application under section 4929.20 of the Revised Code as enacted by this act, provided the person files an application with the Commission for certification in accordance with that section not later than ninety days after the effective date of the initial rules.