130th Ohio General Assembly
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Sub. S. B. No. 221  As Pending in the Senate Energy and Public Utilities Committee
As Pending in the Senate Energy and Public Utilities Committee

127th General Assembly
Regular Session
2007-2008
Sub. S. B. No. 221




A BILL
To amend sections 122.41, 122.451, 3706.01, 3706.02, 3706.03, 3706.04, 3706.041, 3706.05, 3706.06, 3706.07, 3706.08, 3706.09, 3706.10, 3706.11, 3706.12, 3706.13, 3706.14, 3706.15, 3706.16, 3706.17, 3706.18, 4905.31, 4905.40, 4928.02, 4928.05, 4928.14, 4928.17, 4928.20, and 4928.21 and to enact sections 1551.41, 4928.111, 4928.141, 4928.142, 4928.64, 4928.68, and 4928.69 of the Revised Code to revise state energy policy to address electric service price regulation and to provide for new bonding authority for advanced energy projects, advanced (including sustainable resource) energy portfolio standards, energy efficiency standards, and greenhouse gas emission reporting and carbon control planning requirements.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That sections 122.41, 122.451, 3706.01, 3706.02, 3706.03, 3706.04, 3706.041, 3706.05, 3706.06, 3706.07, 3706.08, 3706.09, 3706.10, 3706.11, 3706.12, 3706.13, 3706.14, 3706.15, 3706.16, 3706.17, 3706.18, 4905.31, 4905.40, 4928.02, 4928.05, 4928.14, 4928.17, 4928.20, and 4928.21 be amended and sections 1551.41, 4928.111, 4928.141, 4928.142, 4928.64, 4928.68, and 4928.69 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:
Sec. 122.41.  (A) The development financing advisory council and the director of development are invested with the powers and duties provided in Chapter 122. of the Revised Code, in order to promote the welfare of the people of the state, to stabilize the economy, to provide employment, to assist in the development within the state of industrial, commercial, distribution, and research activities required for the people of the state, and for their gainful employment, or otherwise to create or preserve jobs and employment opportunities, or improve the economic welfare of the people of the state, and also to assist in the financing of air, water, or thermal pollution control facilities, advanced energy facilities, and solid waste disposal facilities by mortgage insurance as provided in section 122.451 of the Revised Code. It is hereby determined that the accomplishment of such purposes is essential so that the people of the state may maintain their present high standards in comparison with the people of other states and so that opportunities for employment and for favorable markets for the products of the state's natural resources, agriculture, and manufacturing shall be improved and that it is necessary for the state to establish the programs authorized pursuant to Chapter 122. of the Revised Code, to establish the development financing advisory council, and to invest it and the director of development with the powers and duties provided in Chapter 122. of the Revised Code. The powers granted to the director of development by Chapter 165. of the Revised Code are independent of and in addition and alternate to, and are not limited or restricted by, Chapter 122. of the Revised Code.
(B) The development financing advisory council shall:
(1) Make recommendations to the director of development as to applications for assistance pursuant to sections 122.39 to 122.62 or Chapter 166. of the Revised Code. The council may revise its recommendations to reflect any changes in the proposed assistance made by the director.
(2) Advise the director in the administration of sections 122.39 to 122.62 and Chapter 166. of the Revised Code;
(3) Adopt bylaws to govern the conduct of the council's business.
Sec. 122.451.  Upon application of any person, partnership, or corporation, or upon application of any community improvement corporation organized as provided in section 1724.01 of the Revised Code, the director of development, with controlling board approval, may, pledging therefor moneys in the mortgage insurance fund created by section 122.561 of the Revised Code, insure or make advance commitments to insure not more than ninety per cent of any mortgage payments required. Before insuring any such mortgage payments the director shall determine that:
(A) The project, in accordance with Section 13 of Article VIII, Ohio Constitution, will create or preserve jobs and employment opportunities, or improve the economic welfare of the people of the state, or be an air quality facility, advanced energy facility, waste water facility, or solid waste facility, as defined in section 3706.01, 6121.01, or 6123.01 of the Revised Code.
(B) The principal obligation, including initial service charges and appraisal, inspection, and other fees approved by the director, does not exceed one hundred per cent of the cost of the project.
(C) The mortgage has a satisfactory maturity date in no case later than twenty-five years from the date of the insurance.
(D) The mortgagor is responsible and able to meet the payments under the mortgage.
(E) The mortgage contains complete amortization provisions satisfactory to the director requiring periodic payments by the mortgagor which may include principal and interest payments, cost of local property taxes and assessments, land lease rentals, if any, and hazard insurance on the property and such mortgage insurance premiums as are required under section 122.561 of the Revised Code, all as the director from time to time prescribes or approves.
(F) The mortgage is in such form and contains such terms and provisions with respect to property insurance, repairs, alterations, payment of taxes and assessments, default reserves, delinquency charges, default remedies, anticipation of maturity, additional and secondary liens, and other matters as the director may prescribe.
The director may take assignments of insured mortgages and other forms of security and may take title by foreclosure or conveyance to any project when an insured mortgage loan thereon is clearly in default and when in the opinion of the director such acquisition is necessary to safeguard the mortgage insurance fund, and may sell, or on a temporary basis lease or rent, such project.
Sec. 1551.41.  The department of natural resources, the environmental protection agency, and the public utilities commission jointly by rule shall develop an interim policy framework for the supervision and regulation by those agencies of pilot and demonstration carbon sequestration activities located in or sequestration products produced in this state.
Sec. 3706.01.  As used in this chapter:
(A) "Governmental agency" means a department, division, or other unit of state government, a municipal corporation, county, township, and other political subdivision, or any other public corporation or agency having the power to acquire, construct, or operate air quality facilities, the United States or any agency thereof, and any agency, commission, or authority established pursuant to an interstate compact or agreement.
(B) "Person" means any individual, firm, partnership, association, or corporation, or any combination thereof.
(C) "Air contaminant" means particulate matter, dust, fumes, gas, mist, smoke, noise, vapor, heat, radioactivity, radiation, or odorous substance, or any combination thereof.
(D) "Air pollution" means the presence in the ambient air of one or more air contaminants in sufficient quantity and of such characteristics and duration as to injure human health or welfare, plant or animal life, or property, or that unreasonably interferes with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property.
(E) "Ambient air" means that portion of the atmosphere outside of buildings and other enclosures, stacks, or ducts that surrounds human, plant, or animal life, or property.
(F) "Emission" means the release into the outdoor atmosphere of an air contaminant.
(G) "Air quality facility" means any of the following:
(1) Any method, or any modification or replacement of property, process, device, structure, or equipment that removes, reduces, prevents, contains, alters, conveys, stores, disperses, or disposes of air contaminants or substances containing air contaminants, or that renders less noxious or reduces the concentration of air contaminants in the ambient air, including, without limitation, facilities and expenditures that qualify as air pollution control facilities under section 103 (C)(4)(F) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, as amended, and regulations adopted thereunder;
(2) Motor vehicle inspection stations operated in accordance with, and any equipment used for motor vehicle inspections conducted under, section 3704.14 of the Revised Code and rules adopted under it;
(3) Ethanol or other biofuel facilities, including any equipment used at the ethanol or other biofuel facility for the production of ethanol or other biofuels;
(4) Any property or portion thereof used for the collection, storage, treatment, utilization, processing, or final disposal of a by-product or solid waste resulting from any method, process, device, structure, or equipment that removes, reduces, prevents, contains, alters, conveys, stores, disperses, or disposes of air contaminants, or that renders less noxious or reduces the concentration of air contaminants in the ambient air;
(5) Any property, device, or equipment that promotes the reduction of emissions of air contaminants into the ambient air through improvements in the efficiency of energy utilization or energy conservation;
(6) Any coal research and development project conducted under Chapter 1555. of the Revised Code;
(7) As determined by the director of the Ohio coal development office, any property or portion thereof that is used for the collection, storage, treatment, utilization, processing, or final disposal of a by-product resulting from a coal research and development project as defined in section 1555.01 of the Revised Code or from the use of clean coal technology, excluding any property or portion thereof that is used primarily for other subsequent commercial purposes;
(8) Any property or portion thereof that is part of the FutureGen project of the United States department of energy or related to the siting of the FutureGen project;
(9) Any property, device, or equipment that reduces emissions of air contaminants into the ambient air through the generation of electricity using sustainable resources;
(10) Any property, device, or equipment necessary for the manufacture and production of equipment that qualifies as an air quality facility.
"Air quality facility" further includes any property or system to be used in whole or in part for any of the purposes in divisions (G)(1) to (8)(10) of this section, whether another purpose is also served, and any property or system incidental to or that has to do with, or the end purpose of which is, any of the foregoing. Air quality facilities that are defined in this division for industry, commerce, distribution, or research, including public utility companies, are hereby determined to be those that qualify as facilities for the control of air pollution and thermal pollution related to air under Section 13 of Article VIII, Ohio Constitution.
(H) "Project," or "air quality project," or "advanced energy project" means any air quality facility or advanced energy facility, including undivided or other interests therein, acquired or to be acquired or constructed or to be constructed by the Ohio air quality development authority under this chapter, or acquired or to be acquired or constructed or to be constructed by a governmental agency or person with all or a part of the cost thereof being paid from a loan or grant from the authority under this chapter or otherwise paid from the proceeds of air quality revenue bonds, including all buildings and facilities that the authority determines necessary for the operation of the project, together with all property, rights, easements, and interests that may be required for the operation of the project.
(I) "Cost" as applied to an air quality project or advanced energy project means the cost of acquisition and construction, the cost of acquisition of all land, rights-of-way, property rights, easements, franchise rights, and interests required for such acquisition and construction, the cost of demolishing or removing any buildings or structures on land so acquired, including the cost of acquiring any lands to which such buildings or structures may be moved, the cost of acquiring or constructing and equipping a principal office and sub-offices of the authority, the cost of diverting highways, interchange of highways, and access roads to private property, including the cost of land or easements for such access roads, the cost of public utility and common carrier relocation or duplication, the cost of all machinery, furnishings, and equipment, financing charges, interest prior to and during construction and for no more than eighteen months after completion of construction, engineering, expenses of research and development with respect to air quality facilities, the cost of any commodity contract, including fees and expenses related thereto, legal expenses, plans, specifications, surveys, studies, estimates of cost and revenues, working capital, other expenses necessary or incident to determining the feasibility or practicability of acquiring or constructing such project, administrative expense, and such other expense as may be necessary or incident to the acquisition or construction of the project, the financing of such acquisition or construction, including the amount authorized in the resolution of the authority providing for the issuance of air quality revenue bonds to be paid into any special funds from the proceeds of such bonds, and the financing of the placing of such project in operation. Any obligation, cost, or expense incurred by any governmental agency or person for surveys, borings, preparation of plans and specifications, and other engineering services, or any other cost described above, in connection with the acquisition or construction of a project may be regarded as a part of the cost of that project and may be reimbursed out of the proceeds of air quality revenue bonds as authorized by this chapter.
(J) "Owner" includes an individual, copartnership, association, or corporation having any title or interest in any property, rights, easements, or interests authorized to be acquired by this chapter.
(K) "Revenues" means all rentals and other charges received by the authority for the use or services of any air quality project, any gift or grant received with respect to any air quality project, any moneys received with respect to the lease, sublease, sale, including installment sale or conditional sale, or other disposition of an air quality project, moneys received in repayment of and for interest on any loans made by the authority to a person or governmental agency, whether from the United States or any department, administration, or agency thereof, or otherwise, proceeds of such bonds to the extent that use thereof for payment of principal of, premium, if any, or interest on the bonds is authorized by the authority, amounts received or otherwise derived from a commodity contract or from the sale of the related commodity under such a contract, proceeds from any insurance, condemnation, or guaranty pertaining to a project or property mortgaged to secure bonds or pertaining to the financing of the project, and income and profit from the investment of the proceeds of air quality revenue bonds or of any revenues.
(L) "Public roads" includes all public highways, roads, and streets in the state, whether maintained by the state, county, city, township, or other political subdivision.
(M) "Public utility facilities" includes tracks, pipes, mains, conduits, cables, wires, towers, poles, and other equipment and appliances of any public utility.
(N) "Construction," unless the context indicates a different meaning or intent, includes reconstruction, enlargement, improvement, or providing furnishings or equipment.
(O) "Air quality revenue Revenue bonds," unless the context indicates a different meaning or intent, includes air quality revenue notes, air quality revenue renewal notes, and air quality revenue refunding bonds, except that notes issued in anticipation of the issuance of bonds shall have a maximum maturity of five years as provided in section 3706.05 of the Revised Code and notes or renewal notes issued as the definitive obligation may be issued maturing at such time or times with a maximum maturity of forty years from the date of issuance of the original note.
(P) "Solid waste" means any garbage; refuse; sludge from a waste water treatment plant, water supply treatment plant, or air pollution control facility; and other discarded material, including solid, liquid, semisolid, or contained gaseous material resulting from industrial, commercial, mining, and agricultural operations, and from community activities, but not including solid or dissolved material in domestic sewage, or solid or dissolved material in irrigation return flows or industrial discharges that are point sources subject to permits under section 402 of the "Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972," 86 Stat. 880, 33 U.S.C.A. 1342, as amended, or source, special nuclear, or byproduct material as defined by the "Atomic Energy Act of 1954," 68 Stat. 921, 42 U.S.C.A. 2011, as amended.
(Q) "Sludge" means any solid, semisolid, or liquid waste, other than a recyclable by-product, generated from a municipal, commercial, or industrial waste water treatment plant, water supply plant, or air pollution control facility or any other such wastes having similar characteristics and effects.
(R) "Ethanol or other biofuel facility" means a plant at which ethanol or other biofuel is produced.
(S) "Ethanol" means fermentation ethyl alcohol derived from agricultural products, including potatoes, cereal, grains, cheese whey, and sugar beets; forest products; or other renewable or biomass resources, including residue and waste generated from the production, processing, and marketing of agricultural products, forest products, and other renewable or biomass resources, that meets all of the specifications in the American society for testing and materials (ASTM) specification D 4806-88 and is denatured as specified in Parts 20 and 21 of Title 27 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
(T) "Biofuel" means any fuel that is made from cellulosic biomass resources, including renewable organic matter, crop waste residue, wood, aquatic plants and other crops, animal waste, solid waste, or sludge, and that is used for the production of energy for transportation or other purposes.
(U) "FutureGen project" means the buildings, equipment, and real property and functionally related buildings, equipment, and real property, including related research projects that support the development and operation of the buildings, equipment, and real property, designated by the United States department of energy and the FutureGen industrial alliance, inc., as the coal-fueled, zero-emissions power plant designed to prove the technical and economic feasibility of producing electricity and hydrogen from coal and nearly eliminating carbon dioxide emissions through capture and permanent storage.
(V) "Commodity contract" means a contract or series of contracts entered into in connection with the acquisition or construction of air quality facilities or advanced energy facilities for the purchase or sale of a commodity that is eligible for prepayment with the proceeds of federally taxable or tax exempt bonds under sections 103, 141, and 148 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and regulations adopted under it.
(W) "Sustainable resources" includes, but is not limited to, solar, wind, tidal or wave, biomass, including, but not limited to, biomass involving the utilization of trees or any part thereof, biofuel, hydro, or geothermal resources that are used in the generation of electricity and includes fuel cells powered by sustainable resources.
(X) "Advanced energy facility" means any method or any modification or replacement of any property, process, device, structure, or equipment that meets any of the following:
(1) With regard to clean coal technology, technology that includes the design capability to control or prevent the emission of carbon dioxide, which design capability the commission shall adopt by rule and shall be based on economically feasible best available technology or, in the absence of a determined best available technology, shall be of the highest level of economically feasible design capability for which there exists generally accepted scientific opinion;
(2) With regard to advanced nuclear energy production, consists of generation III technology as defined by the nuclear regulatory commission, other later technology, or significant improvements to existing facilities;
(3) With regard to fuel cells used in the generation of electricity, consists of, but is not limited to, a proton exchange membrane fuel cell, phosphoric acid fuel cell, molten carbonate fuel cell, or solid fuel cell;
(4) With regard to cogeneration technology, consists of a technology using a heat engine or power station to generate electricity and useful heat simultaneously.
"Advanced energy facility" further includes any property or system to be used in whole or in part for any of the purposes of divisions (X)(1) to (4) of this section, whether another purpose also is served, and any property or system incidental to or that has to do with, or the end purpose of which is, any of the foregoing.
Sec. 3706.02.  There is hereby created the Ohio air quality development authority. Such authority is a body both corporate and politic in this state, and the carrying out of its purposes and the exercise by it of the powers conferred by Chapter 3706. of the Revised Code shall be held to be, and are hereby determined to be, essential governmental functions and public purposes of the state, but the authority shall not be immune from liability by reason thereof.
The authority shall consist of seven members as follows: five members appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the senate, no more than three of whom shall be members of the same political party, and the director of environmental protection and the director of health, who shall be members ex officio without compensation. Each appointive member shall be a resident of the state, and a qualified elector therein. The members of the authority first appointed shall continue in office for terms expiring on June 30, 1971, June 30, 1973, June 30, 1975, June 30, 1977, and June 30, 1978, respectively, the term of each member to be designated by the governor. Appointed members' terms of office shall be for eight years, commencing on the first day of July and ending on the thirtieth day of June. Each appointed member shall hold office from the date of his appointment until the end of the term for which he was appointed. Any member appointed to fill a vacancy occurring prior to the expiration of the term for which his the member's predecessor was appointed shall hold office for the remainder of such term. Any appointed member shall continue in office subsequent to the expiration date of his the member's term until his the member's successor takes office, or until a period of sixty days has elapsed, whichever occurs first. A member of the authority is eligible for reappointment. Each appointed member of the authority, before entering upon his official duties, shall take an oath as provided by Section 7 of Article XV, Ohio Constitution. The governor may at any time remove any member of the authority for misfeasance, nonfeasance, or malfeasance in office. The authority shall elect one of its appointed members as chairman chairperson and another as vice-chairman vice-chairperson, and shall appoint a secretary-treasurer who need not be a member of the authority. Four members of the authority shall constitute a quorum, and the affirmative vote of four members shall be necessary for any action taken by vote of the authority. No vacancy in the membership of the authority shall impair the rights of a quorum by such vote to exercise all the rights and perform all the duties of the authority.
Before the issuance of any air quality revenue bonds under Chapter 3706. of the Revised Code, each appointed member of the authority shall give a surety bond to the state in the penal sum of twenty-five thousand dollars and the secretary-treasurer shall give such a bond in the penal sum of fifty thousand dollars, each such surety bond to be conditioned upon the faithful performance of the duties of the office, to be executed by a surety company authorized to transact business in this state, and to be approved by the governor and filed in the office of the secretary of state. Each appointed member of the authority shall receive an annual salary of five thousand dollars, payable in monthly installments. Each member shall be reimbursed for his the actual expenses necessarily incurred in the performance of his official duties. All expenses incurred in carrying out Chapter 3706. of the Revised Code shall be payable solely from funds provided under Chapter 3706. of the Revised Code, appropriated for such purpose by the general assembly, or provided by the controlling board. No liability or obligation shall be incurred by the authority beyond the extent to which moneys have been so provided or appropriated.
Sec. 3706.03.  (A) It is hereby declared to be the public policy of the state through the operations of the Ohio air quality development authority under this chapter to contribute toward one or more of the following: to provide for the conservation of air as a natural resource of the state, and to prevent or abate the pollution thereof, to provide for the comfort, health, safety, and general welfare of all employees, as well as all other inhabitants of the state, to assist in the financing of air quality facilities and advanced energy facilities for industry, commerce, distribution, and research, including public utility companies, to create or preserve jobs and employment opportunities or improve the economic welfare of the people, or assist and cooperate with governmental agencies in achieving such purposes. In Additionally, advanced energy facilities for industry, commerce, distribution, or research, including public utility companies, are hereby deemed to qualify as facilities for the control of air pollution and thermal pollution related to air under Section 13, Article VIII, Ohio Constitution.
(B) In furtherance of such public policy the Ohio air quality development authority may initiate, acquire, construct, maintain, repair, and operate air quality projects and advanced energy projects or cause the same to be operated pursuant to a lease, sublease, or agreement with any person or governmental agency; may make loans and grants to governmental agencies for the acquisition or construction of air quality facilities and advanced energy facilities by such governmental agencies; may make loans to persons for the acquisition or construction of air quality facilities and advanced energy facilities by such persons; may enter into commodity contracts with, or make loans for the purpose of entering into commodity contracts to, any person, governmental agency, or entity located within or without the state in connection with the acquisition or construction of air quality facilities and advanced energy facilities; and may issue air quality revenue bonds of this state payable solely from revenues, to pay the cost of such projects, including any related commodity contracts. Any air quality project or advanced energy project shall be determined by the authority to be not inconsistent with any applicable air quality standards duly established and then required to be met pursuant to the "Clean Air Act," 84 Stat. 1679 (1970), 42 U.S.C.A. 1857, as amended. Any resolution of the authority providing for acquiring or constructing such projects or for making a loan or grant for such projects shall include a finding by the authority that such determination has been made. Determinations by resolution of the authority that a project is an air quality facility or advanced energy facility under this chapter and is consistent with the purposes of section 13 of Article VIII, Ohio Constitution, and this chapter, shall be conclusive as to the validity and enforceability of the air quality revenue bonds issued to finance such project and of the resolutions, trust agreements or indentures, leases, subleases, sale agreements, loan agreements, and other agreements made in connection therewith, all in accordance with their terms.
(C) Nothing in this chapter authorizes the Ohio air quality development authority to build, own, or operate an air quality facility or advanced energy facility, except as may be required to effect the financing of the facility.
Sec. 3706.04.  The Ohio air quality development authority may:
(A) Adopt bylaws for the regulation of its affairs and the conduct of its business;
(B) Adopt an official seal;
(C) Maintain a principal office and suboffices at such places within the state as it designates;
(D) Sue and plead in its own name; be sued and impleaded in its own name with respect to its contracts or torts of its members, employees, or agents acting within the scope of their employment, or to enforce its obligations and covenants made under sections 3706.05, 3706.07, and 3706.12 of the Revised Code. Any such actions against the authority shall be brought in the court of common pleas of the county in which the principal office of the authority is located, or in the court of common pleas of the county in which the cause of action arose, provided such county is located within this state, and all summonses, exceptions, and notices of every kind shall be served on the authority by leaving a copy thereof at the principal office with the person in charge thereof or with the secretary-treasurer of the authority.
(E) Make loans and grants to governmental agencies for the acquisition or construction of air quality projects or advanced energy projects by any such governmental agency and adopt rules and procedures for making such loans and grants;
(F) Acquire, construct, reconstruct, enlarge, improve, furnish, equip, maintain, repair, operate, lease or rent to, or contract for operation by, a person or governmental agency, air quality projects or advanced energy projects, and establish rules for the use of such projects;
(G) Make available the use or services of any air quality project or advanced energy project to one or more persons, one or more governmental agencies, or any combination thereof;
(H) Issue air quality revenue bonds and notes and air quality revenue refunding bonds of the state, payable solely from revenues as provided in section 3706.05 of the Revised Code, unless the bonds be refunded by refunding bonds, for the purpose of paying any part of the cost of one or more air quality projects or advanced energy projects or parts thereof;
(I) Acquire by gift or purchase, hold, and dispose of real and personal property in the exercise of the powers of the authority and the performance of its duties under this chapter;
(J) Acquire, in the name of the state, by purchase or otherwise, on such terms and in such manner as the authority finds proper, or by the exercise of the right of condemnation in the manner provided by section 3706.17 of the Revised Code, such public or private lands, including public parks, playgrounds, or reservations, or parts thereof or rights therein, rights-of-way, property, rights, easements, and interests as it finds necessary for carrying out this chapter, but excluding the acquisition by the exercise of the right of condemnation of any air quality facility or advanced energy facility owned by any person or governmental agency; and compensation shall be paid for public or private lands so taken;
(K) Make and enter into all contracts and agreements and execute all instruments necessary or incidental to the performance of its duties and the execution of its powers under this chapter.
(1) When the cost under any such contract or agreement, other than compensation for personal services, involves an expenditure of more than two thousand dollars, the authority shall make a written contract with the lowest responsive and responsible bidder, in accordance with section 9.312 of the Revised Code, after advertisement for not less than two consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in Franklin county, and in such other publications as the authority determines, which notice shall state the general character of the work and the general character of the materials to be furnished, the place where plans and specifications therefor may be examined, and the time and place of receiving bids; provided, that a contract or lease for the operation of an air quality project or advanced energy project constructed and owned by the authority or an agreement for cooperation in the acquisition or construction of an air quality project or advanced energy project pursuant to section 3706.12 of the Revised Code or any contract for the construction of an air quality project or advanced energy project that is to be leased by the authority to, and operated by, persons who that are not governmental agencies and the cost of such project is to be amortized exclusively from rentals or other charges paid to the authority by persons who that are not governmental agencies is not subject to the foregoing requirements and the authority may enter into such contract, lease, or agreement pursuant to negotiation and upon such terms and conditions and for such period as it finds to be reasonable and proper in the circumstances and in the best interests of proper operation or of efficient acquisition or construction of such project.
(2) Each bid for a contract for the construction, demolition, alteration, repair, or reconstruction of an improvement shall contain the full name of every person interested in it and meet the requirements of section 153.54 of the Revised Code.
(3) Each bid for a contract except as provided in division (K)(2) of this section shall contain the full name of every person interested in it and shall be accompanied by a sufficient bond or certified check on a solvent bank that if the bid is accepted a contract will be entered into and the performance thereof secured.
(4) The authority may reject any and all bids.
(5) A bond with good and sufficient surety, approved by the authority, shall be required of every contractor awarded a contract except as provided in division (K)(2) of this section, in an amount equal to at least fifty per cent of the contract price, conditioned upon the faithful performance of the contract.
(L) Employ managers, superintendents, and other employees and retain or contract with consulting engineers, financial consultants, accounting experts, architects, attorneys, and such other consultants and independent contractors as are necessary in its judgment to carry out this chapter, and fix the compensation thereof. All expenses thereof shall be payable solely from the proceeds of air quality revenue bonds or notes issued under this chapter, from revenues, or from funds appropriated for such purpose by the general assembly.
(M) Receive and accept from any federal agency, subject to the approval of the governor, grants for or in aid of the construction of any air quality project or advanced energy project or for research and development with respect to air quality facilities and advanced energy facilities, and receive and accept aid or contributions from any source of money, property, labor, or other things of value, to be held, used, and applied only for the purposes for which such grants and contributions are made;
(N) Engage in research and development with respect to air quality facilities and advanced energy facilities;
(O) Purchase fire and extended coverage and liability insurance for any air quality project and advanced energy project and for the principal office and suboffices of the authority, insurance protecting the authority and its officers and employees against liability for damage to property or injury to or death of persons arising from its operations, and any other insurance the authority may agree to provide under any resolution authorizing its air quality revenue bonds or in any trust agreement securing the same;
(P) Charge, alter, and collect rentals and other charges for the use or services of any air quality project or advanced energy project as provided in section 3706.13 of the Revised Code;
(Q) Provide coverage for its employees under Chapters 145., 4123., and 4141. of the Revised Code;
(R) Develop, encourage, promote, support, and implement programs to achieve best cost rates for state-owned buildings, facilities, and operations, state-supported colleges and universities, willing local governments, and willing school districts through pooled purchases of electricity and the financing of taxable or tax-exempt prepayment of commodities;
(S) Develop, encourage, promote, support, and implement programs to achieve optimal cost financing for electric generating facilities to be constructed on or after January 1, 2009;
(T) Develop, encourage, and provide incentives for investments in energy efficiency;
(U) Develop, encourage, promote, and support implementation in this state of sustainable resource energy installations;
(V) Lead, encourage, promote, and support siting, financing, construction, and operation for early implementations of next-generation base load generating systems, including clean coal generating facilities with carbon capture or sequestration or advanced nuclear power plants, and reduce the costs of associated risks;
(W) Engage in and coordinate state-supported energy research and development with respect to reliable, affordable, and sustainable energy in this state;
(X) Develop, encourage, promote, support, and implement programs to attract and retain key industrial and energy-intensive sectors of the economy of this state;
(Y) Do all acts necessary or proper to carry out the powers expressly granted in this chapter.
Any instrument by which real property is acquired pursuant to this section shall identify the agency of the state that has the use and benefit of the real property as specified in section 5301.012 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 3706.041.  (A) With respect to projects, and the financing thereof, for industry, commerce, distribution, or research, including public utility companies, under agreements whereby the person to whom the project is to be leased, subleased, or sold, or to whom a loan is to be made for the project, is to make payments sufficient to pay all of the principal of, premium, if any, and interest on the air quality revenue bonds issued for the project, or the counterparty under any related commodity contract agrees to make payments sufficient in amount to pay all of the principal of, premium, if any, and interest on the related air quality revenue bonds, the Ohio air quality development authority may, in addition to other powers under this chapter:
(1) Make loans for the acquisition or construction of the project to such person upon such terms as the authority may determine or authorize, including secured or unsecured loans, and, in connection therewith, enter into loan agreements and other agreements, including commodity contracts, accept notes and other forms of obligation to evidence such indebtedness and mortgages, liens, pledges, assignments, or other security interests to secure such indebtedness, which may be prior or subordinate to or on a parity with other indebtedness, obligations, mortgages, pledges, assignments, other security interests, or liens or encumbrances, and take such actions as may be considered by it appropriate to protect such security and safeguard against losses, including, without limitation thereto, foreclosure and the bidding upon and purchase of property upon foreclosure or other sale.
(2) Sell such project under such terms as it may determine, including, without limitation thereto, sale by conditional sale or installment sale, under which title may pass prior to or after completion of the project or payment or provisions for payment of all principal of, premium, if any, and interest on such bonds, or at any other time provided in such agreement pertaining to such sale, and including sale under an option to purchase at a price which may be a nominal amount or less than true value at the time of purchase.
(3) Grant a mortgage, lien, or other encumbrance on, or pledge or assignment of, or other security interest with respect to, all or any part of the project, revenues, reserve funds, or other funds established in connection with such bonds, or on, of, or with respect to any lease, sublease, sale, conditional sale or installment sale agreement, loan agreement, or other agreement pertaining to the lease, sublease, sale, or other disposition of a project or pertaining to a loan made for a project, or any guaranty or insurance agreement made with respect thereto, or any interest of the authority therein, or any other interest granted, assigned, or released to secure payments of the principal of, premium, if any, or interest on the bonds or to secure any other payments to be made by the authority, which mortgage, lien, encumbrance, pledge, assignment, or other security interest may be prior or subordinate to or on a parity with any other mortgage, assignment, other security interest, or lien or encumbrance.
(4) Provide that the interest on such bonds may be at a variable rate or rates changing from time to time in accordance with a base or formula as authorized by the authority.
(5) Contract for the acquisition or construction of such project or any part thereof, including any related commodity contracts, and for the leasing, subleasing, sale or other disposition of such project in a manner determined by the authority in its sole discretion, without necessity for competitive bidding or performance bonds.
(B) Property comprising a project shall not be subject to taxes or assessments and so long as the bonds or notes issued to finance the costs of such project are outstanding, and the transfer of title to or possession of such property to the person to whom a loan or installment sale or conditional sale with respect to such project is made shall not be subject to the taxes levied pursuant to Chapters 5739. and 5741. of the Revised Code.
The authority shall certify the property comprising a project which is exempt from taxes and assessments pursuant to this section, and shall send, by certified mail, copies of such certification to the owner of such exempt property, to the tax commissioner, and to the county auditor of the county or counties in which any such exempt property is located.
Each county auditor shall maintain a separate list of all property exempt pursuant to this section and sections 6121.044 and 6123.041 of the Revised Code, in addition to the list of exempt property required to be maintained pursuant to section 5713.07 of the Revised Code.
(C) The authority, in the lease, sale or loan agreement with respect to a project referred to in division (A) of this section, shall make appropriate provision for adequate maintenance of the project.
(D) With respect to the projects referred to in this section, the authority granted by this section is cumulative and supplementary to all other authority granted in this chapter. The authority granted by this section does not alter or impair any similar authority granted elsewhere in this chapter for or with respect to other projects.
Sec. 3706.05.  The Ohio air quality development authority may at any time issue revenue bonds and notes of the state in such principal amount as, in the opinion of the authority, are necessary for the purpose of paying any part of the cost of one or more air quality projects or advanced energy projects or parts thereof, including one or more payments pursuant to a commodity contract entered into in connection with the acquisition or construction of air quality facilities or advanced energy facilities. The authority may at any time issue renewal notes, issue bonds to pay such notes and whenever it deems refunding expedient, refund any bonds by the issuance of air quality revenue refunding bonds of the state, whether the bonds to be refunded have or have not matured, and issue bonds partly to refund bonds then outstanding, and partly for any other authorized purpose. The refunding bonds shall be sold and the proceeds applied to the purchase, redemption, or payment of the bonds to be refunded. Except as may otherwise be expressly provided by the authority, every issue of its bonds or notes shall be general obligations of the authority payable out of the revenues of the authority that are pledged for such payment, without preference or priority of the first bonds issued, subject only to any agreements with the holders of particular bonds or notes pledging any particular revenues. Such pledge shall be valid and binding from the time the pledge is made and the revenues so pledged and thereafter received by the authority shall immediately be subject to the lien of such pledge without any physical delivery thereof or further act, and the lien of any such pledge is valid and binding as against all parties having claims of any kind in tort, contract, or otherwise against the authority, irrespective of whether such parties have notice thereof. Neither the resolution nor any trust agreement by which a pledge is created need be filed or recorded except in the records of the authority.
Whether or not the bonds or notes are of such form and character as to be negotiable instruments, the bonds or notes shall have all the qualities and incidents of negotiable instruments, subject only to the provisions of the bonds or notes for registration.
The bonds and notes shall be authorized by resolution of the authority, shall bear such date or dates, and shall mature at such time or times, in the case of any such note or any renewals thereof not exceeding five years from the date of issue of such original note and in the case of any such bond not exceeding forty years from the date of issue, as such resolution or resolutions may provide. The bonds and notes shall bear interest at such rate or rates, be in such denominations, be in such form, either coupon or registered, carry such registration privileges, be payable in such medium of payment, at such place or places, and be subject to such terms of redemption as the authority may authorize. The bonds and notes of the authority may be sold by the authority, at public or private sale, at or at not less than such price or prices as the authority determines. The bonds and notes shall be executed by the chairperson and vice-chairperson of the authority, either or both of whom may use a facsimile signature, the official seal of the authority or a facsimile thereof shall be affixed thereto or printed thereon and attested, manually or by facsimile signature, by the secretary-treasurer of the authority, and any coupons attached thereto shall bear the signature or facsimile signature of the chairperson of the authority. In case any officer whose signature, or a facsimile of whose signature, appears on any bonds, notes or coupons ceases to be such officer before delivery of bonds or notes, such signature or facsimile shall nevertheless be sufficient for all purposes the same as if the officer had remained in office until such delivery, and in case the seal of the authority has been changed after a facsimile has been imprinted on such bonds or notes, such facsimile seal will continue to be sufficient for all purposes.
Any resolution or resolutions authorizing any bonds or notes or any issue thereof may contain provisions, subject to such agreements with bondholders or noteholders as may then exist, which provisions shall be a part of the contract with the holders thereof, as to: the pledging of all or any part of the revenues of the authority to secure the payment of the bonds or notes or of any issue thereof; the use and disposition of revenues of the authority; a covenant to fix, alter, and collect rentals and other charges so that pledged revenues will be sufficient to pay costs of operation, maintenance, and repairs, pay principal of and interest on bonds or notes secured by the pledge of such revenues, and provide such reserves as may be required by the applicable resolution or trust agreement; the setting aside of reserve funds, sinking funds, or replacement and improvement funds and the regulation and disposition thereof; the crediting of the proceeds of the sale of bonds or notes to and among the funds referred to or provided for in the resolution authorizing the issuance of the bonds or notes; the use, lease, sale, or other disposition of any air quality project or any other assets of the authority; limitations on the purpose to which the proceeds of sale of bonds or notes may be applied and the pledging of such proceeds to secure the payment of the bonds or notes or of any issue thereof; as to notes issued in anticipation of the issuance of bonds, the agreement of the authority to do all things necessary for the authorization, issuance, and sale of such bonds in such amounts as may be necessary for the timely retirement of such notes; limitations on the issuance of additional bonds or notes; the terms upon which additional bonds or notes may be issued and secured; the refunding of outstanding bonds or notes; the procedure, if any, by which the terms of any contract with bondholders or noteholders may be amended or abrogated, the amount of bonds or notes the holders of which must consent thereto, and the manner in which such consent may be given; limitations on the amount of moneys to be expended by the authority for operating, administrative, or other expenses of the authority; securing any bonds or notes by a trust agreement in accordance with section 3706.07 of the Revised Code; any other matters, of like or different character, that in any way affect the security or protection of the bonds or notes.
Neither the members of the authority nor any person executing the bonds or notes shall be liable personally on the bonds or notes or be subject to any personal liability or accountability by reason of the issuance thereof.
Sec. 3706.06.  The issuance of air quality revenue bonds and notes or air quality revenue refunding bonds under Chapter 3706. of the Revised Code need not comply with any other law applicable to the issuance of bonds or notes.
Sec. 3706.07.  In the discretion of the Ohio air quality development authority, any air quality revenue bonds or notes or air quality revenue refunding bonds issued under Chapter 3706. of the Revised Code, may be secured by a trust agreement between the authority and a corporate trustee, which trustee may be any trust company or bank having the powers of a trust company within or without the state.
Any such trust agreement may pledge or assign revenues of the authority to be received, but shall not convey or mortgage any air quality project or any part thereof. Any such trust agreement or any resolution providing for the issuance of such bonds or notes may contain such provisions for protecting and enforcing the rights and remedies of the bondholders or noteholders as are reasonable and proper and not in violation of law, including covenants setting forth the duties of the authority in relation to the acquisition of property, the construction, improvement, maintenance, repair, operation, and insurance of the air quality project or projects in connection with which such bonds or notes are authorized, the rentals or other charges to be imposed for the use or services of any air quality project, the application of revenues received or otherwise derived from a commodity contract or from the sale of the related commodity under such contract, the custody, safeguarding, and application of all moneys, and provisions for the employment of consulting engineers in connection with the construction or operation of such air quality project or projects. Any bank or trust company incorporated under the laws of this state that may act as depository of the proceeds of bonds or notes or of revenues may furnish such indemnifying bonds or may pledge such securities as are required by the authority. Any such trust agreement may set forth the rights and remedies of the bondholders and noteholders and of the trustee, and may restrict the individual right of action by bondholders and noteholders as is customary in trust agreements or trust indentures securing similar bonds. Such trust agreement may contain such other provisions as the authority determines reasonable and proper for the security of the bondholders or noteholders. All expenses incurred in carrying out the provisions of any such trust agreement may be treated as a part of the cost of the operation of the air quality project or projects. Any such trust agreement or resolution authorizing the issuance of air quality revenue bonds may provide the method whereby the general administrative overhead expenses of the authority shall be allocated among the several projects acquired or constructed by it as a factor of the operation expense of each such project.
Sec. 3706.08.  Any holder of air quality revenue bonds issued under Chapter 3706. of the Revised Code, or any of the coupons appertaining thereto, and the trustee under any trust agreement, except to the extent the rights given by such chapter may be restricted by the applicable resolution or such trust agreement, may by suit, action, mandamus, or other proceedings, protect and enforce any rights under the laws of the state or granted under such chapter, trust agreement, or the resolution authorizing the issuance of such bonds, and may enforce and compel the performance of all duties required by such chapter, or by the trust agreement or resolution, to be performed by the Ohio air quality development authority or any officer thereof, including the fixing, charging, and collecting of rentals or other charges.
Sec. 3706.09.  Air quality revenue Revenue bonds and notes and air quality revenue refunding bonds issued under Chapter 3706. of the Revised Code do not constitute a debt, or a pledge of the faith and credit, of the state or any political subdivision thereof, and the holders or owners thereof have no right to have taxes levied by the general assembly or taxing authority of any political subdivision of the state for the payment of the principal thereof or interest thereon, but such bonds and notes are payable solely from the revenues and funds pledged for their payment as authorized by such chapter, unless the notes are issued in anticipation of the issuance of bonds or the bonds are refunded by refunding bonds issued under such chapter, which bonds or refunding bonds shall be payable solely from revenues and funds pledged for their payment as authorized by such sections. All such bonds and notes shall contain on the face thereof a statement to the effect that the bonds or notes, as to both principal and interest, are not debts of the state or any political subdivision thereof, but are payable solely from revenues and funds pledged for their payment.
All expenses incurred in carrying out Chapter 3706. of the Revised Code are payable solely from funds provided under such chapter. Such chapter does not authorize the Ohio air quality development authority to incur indebtedness or liability on behalf of or payable by the state or any political subdivision thereof.
Sec. 3706.10.  All moneys, funds, properties, and assets acquired by the Ohio air quality development authority under Chapter 3706. of the Revised Code, whether as proceeds from the sale of air quality revenue bonds or as revenues, or otherwise, shall be held by it in trust for the purposes of carrying out its powers and duties, shall be used and reused as provided in such chapter, and shall at no time be part of other public funds. Such funds, except as otherwise provided in any resolution authorizing its air quality revenue bonds or in any trust agreement securing the same, or except when invested pursuant to section 3706.11 of the Revised Code, shall be kept in depositories selected by the authority in the manner provided in Chapter 135. of the Revised Code, and the deposits shall be secured as provided in Chapter 135. of the Revised Code. The resolution authorizing the issuance of such bonds of any issue or the trust agreement securing such bonds shall provide that any officer to whom, or any bank or trust company to which, such moneys are paid shall act as trustee of such moneys and hold and apply them for the purposes hereof, subject to such conditions as such chapter and such resolutions or trust agreement provide.
Sec. 3706.11.  Moneys in the funds of the Ohio air quality development authority, except as otherwise provided in any resolution authorizing the issuance of its air quality revenue bonds or in any trust agreement securing the same, in excess of current needs, may be invested in notes, bonds, or other obligations of the United States of America or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or in obligations of this state or any political subdivision thereof. Income from all such investments of moneys in any fund shall be credited to such funds as the authority determines, subject to the provisions of any such resolution or trust agreement and such investments may be sold at such times as the authority determines.
Sec. 3706.12.  The Ohio air quality development authority may charge, alter, and collect rentals or other charges for the use or services of any air quality project or advanced energy project and contract in the manner provided by this section with one or more persons, one or more governmental agencies, or any combination thereof, desiring the use or services of such project, and fix the terms, conditions, rentals, or other charges for such use or services. Such rentals or other charges shall not be subject to supervision or regulation by any other authority, commission, board, bureau, or agency of the state and such contract may provide for acquisition by such person or governmental agency of all or any part of such air quality project or advanced energy project for such consideration payable over the period of the contract or otherwise as the authority in its sole discretion determines to be appropriate, but subject to the provisions of any resolution authorizing the issuance of air quality revenue bonds or notes or air quality revenue refunding bonds of the authority or any trust agreement securing the same. Any governmental agency that has power to construct, operate, and maintain air quality facilities or advanced energy facilities may enter into a contract or lease with the authority whereby the use or services of any air quality project or advanced energy project of the authority will be made available to such governmental agency and may pay for such use or services such rentals or other charges as may be agreed to by the authority and such governmental agency.
Any governmental agency or combination of governmental agencies may cooperate with the authority in the acquisition or construction of an air quality project or advanced energy project and shall enter into such agreements with the authority as may be necessary, with a view to effective cooperative action and safeguarding of the respective interests of the parties thereto, which agreements shall provide for such contributions by the parties thereto in such proportion as may be agreed upon and such other terms as may be mutually satisfactory to the parties including without limitation the authorization of the construction of the project by one of the parties acting as agent for all of the parties and the ownership and control of the project by the authority to the extent necessary or appropriate for purposes of the issuance of air quality revenue bonds by the authority. Any governmental agency may provide the funds for the payment of such contribution as is required under such agreements by the levy of taxes, assessments or rentals and other charges for the use of the utility system of which the air quality project or advanced energy project is a part or to which it is connected, if otherwise authorized by the laws governing such governmental agency in the construction of the type of air quality project or advanced energy project provided for in the agreements, and may pay the proceeds from the collection of such taxes, assessments, utility rentals, or other charges to the authority pursuant to such agreements; or the governmental agency may issue bonds or notes, if authorized by such laws, in anticipation of the collection of such taxes, assessments, utility rentals, or other charges and may pay the proceeds of such bonds or notes to the authority pursuant to such agreements. In addition any governmental agency may provide the funds for the payment of such contribution by the appropriation of money or, if otherwise authorized by law, by the issuance of bonds or notes and may pay such appropriated money or the proceeds of such bonds or notes to the authority pursuant to such agreements. The agreement by the governmental agency to provide such contribution, whether from appropriated money or from the proceeds of such taxes, assessments, utility rentals, or other charges, or such bonds or notes, or any combination thereof, shall not be subject to Chapter 133. of the Revised Code or any regulations or limitations contained therein. The proceeds from the collection of such taxes or assessments, and any interest earned thereon, shall be paid into a special fund immediately upon the collection thereof by the governmental agency for the purpose of providing such contribution at the times required under such agreements.
When the contribution of any governmental agency is to be made over a period of time from the proceeds of the collection of special assessments, the interest accrued and to accrue before the first installment of such assessments shall be collected which is payable by such governmental agency on such contribution under the terms and provisions of such agreements shall be treated as part of the cost of the improvement for which such assessments are levied, and that portion of such assessments as are collected in installments shall bear interest at the same rate as such governmental agency is obligated to pay on such contribution under the terms and provisions of such agreements and for the same period of time as the contribution is to be made under such agreements. If the assessment or any installment thereof is not paid when due, it shall bear interest until the payment thereof at the same rate as such contribution and the county auditor shall annually place on the tax list and duplicate the interest applicable to such assessment and the penalty and additional interest thereon as otherwise authorized by law.
Any governmental agency, pursuant to a favorable vote of the electors in an election held before or after June 1, 1970, for the purpose of issuing bonds to provide funds to acquire, construct, or equip, or provide real estate and interests in real estate for, an air quality facility or advanced energy facility, whether or not such governmental agency, at the time of such election, had the authority to pay the proceeds from such bonds or notes issued in anticipation thereof to the authority as provided in this section, may issue such bonds or notes in anticipation of the issuance thereof and pay the proceeds thereof to the authority in accordance with its agreement with the authority; provided, that the legislative authority of the governmental agency find and determine that the air quality project or advanced energy project to be acquired or constructed by the authority in cooperation with such governmental agency will serve the same public purpose and meet substantially the same public need as the facility otherwise proposed to be acquired or constructed by the governmental agency with the proceeds of such bonds or notes.
Sec. 3706.13.  Each air quality project or advanced energy project, when constructed and placed in operation, shall be maintained and kept in good condition and repair by the Ohio air quality development authority, or the authority shall cause the same to be maintained and kept in good condition and repair. Each such project shall be operated by such operating employees as the authority employs or pursuant to a contract or lease with a person or governmental agency. All public or private property damaged or destroyed in carrying out the powers granted by Chapter 3706. of the Revised Code, shall be restored or repaired and placed in its original condition, as nearly as practicable, or adequate compensation shall be paid therefor from funds provided under such chapter.
On or before the twentieth day of April in each year, the authority shall make a report of its activities for the preceding calendar year to the governor and the general assembly. Each such report shall set forth a complete operating and financial statement covering the authority's operations during the year. The authority shall cause an audit of its books and accounts to be made at least once each year by certified public accountants and the cost thereof may be treated as a part of the cost of construction or of operations of its projects.
Sec. 3706.14.  All air quality revenue bonds issued under this chapter are lawful investments of banks, societies for savings, savings and loan associations, deposit guarantee associations, trust companies, trustees, fiduciaries, insurance companies, including domestic for life and domestic not for life, trustees or other officers having charge of sinking and bond retirement or other special funds of political subdivisions and taxing districts of this state, the commissioners of the sinking fund of the state, the administrator of workers' compensation, the state teachers retirement system, the public employees retirement system, the school employees retirement system, and the Ohio police and fire pension fund, and are acceptable as security for the deposit of public moneys.
Sec. 3706.15.  The exercise of the powers granted by Chapter 3706. of the Revised Code, will be for the benefit of the people of the state, for the improvement of their health, safety, convenience, and welfare, and for the enhancement of their residential, agricultural, recreational, economic, commercial, and industrial opportunities and is a public purpose. As the operation and maintenance of air quality projects or advanced energy projects will constitute the performance of essential governmental functions, the Ohio air quality development authority shall not be required to pay any taxes or assessments upon any air quality such project, or upon any property acquired or used by the authority under Chapter 3706. of the Revised Code, or upon the income therefrom, nor shall the transfer to or from the Ohio air quality development authority of title or possession of any air quality project or advanced energy project, part thereof, or item included or to be included in any such project, be subject to the taxes levied pursuant to Chapters 5739. and 5741. of the Revised Code, and the bonds and notes issued under this chapter, their transfer, and the income therefrom, including any profit made on the sale thereof, shall at all times be free from taxation within the state.
Sec. 3706.16.  The Ohio air quality development authority may acquire by purchase, whenever it finds such purchase expedient, any land, property, rights, rights-of-way, franchises, easements, and other interests in lands as it finds to be necessary or convenient for the construction and operation of any air quality project or advanced energy project, upon such terms and at such price as it considers reasonable and are agreed upon between the authority and the owner thereof, and take title thereto in the name of the state.
Any governmental agency, notwithstanding any contrary provision of law and without the necessity for an advertisement, auction, order of court, or other action or formality, other than the regular and formal action of such governmental agency concerned, may lease, lend, grant, or convey to the authority, at its request, upon such terms as the proper authorities of such governmental agency find reasonable and fair any real property or interests therein including improvements thereto or personal property which is necessary or convenient to effect the authorized purposes of the authority, including public roads and real or personal property already devoted to public use.
Sec. 3706.17.  The Ohio air quality development authority may acquire by appropriation pursuant to division (J) of section 3706.04 of the Revised Code any land, rights, rights-of-way, franchises, easements, or other property necessary or proper for the construction or the efficient operation of any air quality project or advanced energy project. In any proceedings for appropriation under this section, the procedure to be followed shall be in accordance with Chapter 163. of the Revised Code.
This section does not empower the authority to take or disturb property or facilities belonging to and required for the proper and convenient operation of any public utility or any common carrier engaged in interstate commerce, unless provision is made for the restoration, relocation, or duplication of such property or facilities elsewhere at the sole cost of the authority.
Sec. 3706.18.  When the Ohio air quality development authority finds it necessary to change the location of any portion of any public road, state highway, railroad, or public utility facility in connection with the construction of an air quality project or advanced energy project, it shall cause the same to be reconstructed at such location as the division of government having jurisdiction over such road, highway, railroad, or public utility facility finds most favorable. Such reconstruction shall be of substantially the same type and in as good condition as the original road, highway, railroad, or public utility facility. The cost of such reconstruction, relocation, or removal and any damage incurred in changing the location of any such road, highway, railroad, or public utility facility shall be paid by the authority as a part of the cost of such air quality the project.
When the authority finds it necessary that any public highway or portion thereof be vacated by reason of the acquisition or construction of an air quality project or advanced energy project, the authority may request the director of transportation, in writing, to vacate such highway or portion thereof in accordance with section 5511.07 of the Revised Code if the highway or portion thereof to be vacated is on the state highway system, or, if the highway or portion thereof to be vacated is under the jurisdiction of the county commissioners, the authority shall request the director, in writing, to petition the board of county commissioners, in the manner provided in section 5553.041 of the Revised Code, to vacate such highway or portion thereof. The authority shall pay to the director or to the county, as a part of the cost of such air quality the project, any amounts required to be deposited with any court in connection with proceedings for the determination of compensation and damages and all amounts of compensation and damages finally determined to be payable as a result of such vacation.
The authority may make reasonable regulations for the installation, construction, maintenance, repair, renewal, relocation, and removal of railroad or public utility facilities in, on, over, or under any air quality project or advanced energy project. Whenever the authority determines that it is necessary that any such facilities installed or constructed in, on, over, or under property of the authority pursuant to such regulations be relocated, the public utility owning or operating such facilities shall relocate or remove them in accordance with the order of the authority. The cost and expenses of such relocation or removal, including the cost of installing such facilities in a new location, and the cost of any lands, or any rights or interests in lands, and the cost of any other rights, acquired to accomplish such relocation or removal, may be paid by the authority as a part of the cost of such air quality the project. In case of any such relocation or removal of facilities, the railroad or public utility owning or operating them, its successors, or assigns may maintain and operate such facilities, with the necessary appurtenances, in the new location in, on, over, or under the property of the authority for as long a period and upon the same terms as it had the right to maintain and operate such facilities in their former location.
Sec. 4905.31.  Except as provided in section 4933.29 of the Revised Code, Chapters 4901., 4903., 4905., 4907., 4909., 4921., and 4923., and 4928. of the Revised Code do not prohibit a public utility from filing a schedule or entering into any reasonable arrangement with another public utility or with its customers, consumers, or employees providing for:
(A) The division or distribution of its surplus profits;
(B) A sliding scale of charges, including variations in rates based upon either of the following:
(1) Stipulated variations in cost as provided in the schedule or arrangement;
(2) Any emissions fee levied upon an electric light company under Substitute Senate Bill No. 359 of the 119th general assembly as provided in the schedule. The public utilities commission shall permit an electric light company to recover the emissions fee pursuant to such a variable rate schedule.
(3) Any emissions fee levied upon an electric light company under division (C) or (D) of section 3745.11 of the Revised Code as provided in the schedule. The public utilities commission shall permit an electric light company to recover any such emission fee pursuant to such a variable rate schedule.
(4) Any schedule of variable rates filed under division (B) of this section shall provide for the recovery of any such emissions fee by applying a uniform percentage increase to the base rate charged each customer of the electric light company for service during the period that the variable rate is in effect.
(C) A minimum charge for service to be rendered unless such minimum charge is made or prohibited by the terms of the franchise, grant, or ordinance under which such public utility is operated;
(D) A classification of service based upon the quantity used, the time when used, the purpose for which used, the duration of use, and any other reasonable consideration;
(E) Any other financial device that may be practicable or advantageous to the parties interested. No such arrangement, sliding scale, minimum charge, classification, variable rate, or device is lawful unless it is filed with and approved by the commission.
Every such public utility is required to conform its schedules of rates, tolls, and charges to such arrangement, sliding scale, classification, or other device, and where variable rates are provided for in any such schedule or arrangement, the cost data or factors upon which such rates are based and fixed shall be filed with the commission in such form and at such times as the commission directs. The commission shall review the cost data or factors upon which a variable rate schedule filed under division (B)(2) or (3) of this section is based and shall adjust the base rates of the electric light company or order the company to refund any charges that it has collected under the variable rate schedule that the commission finds to have resulted from errors or erroneous reporting. After recovery of all of the emissions fees upon which a variable rate authorized under division (B)(2) or (3) of this section is based, collection of the variable rate shall end and the variable rate schedule shall be terminated.
Every such arrangement, sliding scale, minimum charge, classification, variable rate, or device shall be under the supervision and regulation of the commission, and is subject to change, alteration, or modification by the commission.
Sec. 4905.40.  (A) A public utility or a railroad may, when authorized by order of the public utilities commission, issue stocks, bonds, notes, and other evidences of indebtedness, payable at periods of more than twelve months after their date of issuance, when necessary:
(1) For the acquisition of property, the construction, completion, extension, renewal, or improvement of its facilities, or the improvement of its service; or
(2) For reorganization or readjustment of its indebtedness and capitalization, for the discharge or lawful refunding of its obligation, or for the reimbursement of moneys actually expended for such purposes from income or from any other moneys in the treasury of the public utility or railroad not secured or obtained from the issue of stocks, bonds, notes, or other evidences of indebtedness of such public utility or railroad. No reimbursement of moneys expended for such purposes from income or other moneys in the treasury shall be authorized unless the applicant has kept its accounts and vouchers of such expenditures in such manner as to enable the commission to ascertain the amount and purposes of such expenditures.
(B) Any public utility, subject to the jurisdiction of the commission, may, when authorized by the commission, issue shares of common capital stock to acquire or pay for shares of common capital stock of a public utility of this or an adjoining state whose property is so located as to permit the operation of the properties of such utilities as an integrated system if the applicant owns, or by this issue will acquire, not less than sixty-five per cent of the issued and outstanding common capital shares of the company whose shares are to be acquired, and if the consideration to be capitalized by the acquiring company does not exceed the par or stated value at which the shares so acquired were issued.
(C) Any bonds, notes, or other evidences of indebtedness payable at periods of more than twelve months after their date may be issued as provided in sections 4905.40 to 4905.43 of the Revised Code, regardless of the amount of the capital stock of the public utility or railroad, subject to the approval of the commission of the excess of such bonds, notes, or other evidences of indebtedness above the amount of the capital stock of such public utility or railroad.
(D) The commission shall authorize on the best terms obtainable such issues of stocks, bonds, and other evidences of indebtedness as are necessary to enable any public utility to comply with any contract made between such public utility and any municipal corporation prior to June 30, 1911.
(E) The commission may authorize a public utility that is an electric light company to issue equity securities, or debt securities having a term of more than twelve months from the date of issuance, for the purpose of yielding to the company the capacity to acquire a facility that produces fuel for the generation of electricity.
(F) In any proceeding under division (A)(1) of this section initiated by a public utility, the commission shall determine and set forth in its order:
(1) Whether the purpose to which the issue or any proceeds of it shall be applied was or is reasonably required by the utility to meet its present and prospective obligations to provide utility service;
(2) Whether the amount of the issue and the probable cost of such stocks, bonds, notes, or other evidences of indebtedness is just and reasonable;
(3) What effect, if any, the issuance of such stocks, bonds, notes, or other evidences of indebtedness and the cost thereof will have upon the present and prospective revenue requirements of the utility.
(G) Sections 4905.40 to 4905.42 of the Revised Code do not apply to stocks, bonds, notes, or other evidence of indebtedness issued for the purpose of financing oil or natural gas drilling, producing, gathering, and associated activities and facilities by a producer which supplies to no more than twenty purchasers only such gas as is produced, gathered, or purchased by such producer within this state.
(H) Each public utility seeking authorization from the commission for the issuance of securities to finance the installation, construction, extension, or improvement of an air quality facility or advanced energy facility, as defined in section 3706.01 of the Revised Code, shall consider the availability of financing therefor from the Ohio air quality development authority and shall demonstrate to the commission that the proposed financing will be obtained on the best terms obtainable.
Sec. 4928.02.  It is the policy of this state to do the following throughout this state beginning on the starting date of competitive retail electric service:
(A) Ensure the availability to consumers of adequate, reliable, safe, efficient, nondiscriminatory, and reasonably priced retail electric service;
(B) Ensure the availability of unbundled and comparable retail electric service that provides consumers with the supplier, price, terms, conditions, and quality options they elect to meet their respective needs;
(C) Ensure diversity of electricity supplies and suppliers, by giving consumers effective choices over the selection of those supplies and suppliers and by encouraging the development of distributed and small generation facilities;
(D) Encourage innovation and market access for cost-effective supply- and demand-side retail electric service including, but not limited to, demand-side management, time-differentiated pricing, and implementation of advanced metering infrastructure;
(E) Encourage cost-effective and efficient access to information regarding the operation of the transmission and distribution systems of electric utilities in order to promote both effective customer choice of retail electric service and the development of performance standards and targets for service quality for all consumers, including annual achievement reports written in plain language;
(F) Recognize the continuing emergence of competitive electricity markets through the development and implementation of flexible regulatory treatment;
(G) Ensure effective competition in the provision of retail electric service by avoiding anticompetitive subsidies flowing from a noncompetitive retail electric service to a competitive retail electric service or to a product or service other than retail electric service, and vice versa;
(H) Ensure retail electric service consumers just and reasonable rates and protection against unreasonable sales practices, market deficiencies, and market power;
(I) Preclude imbalances in knowledge and expertise among parties in a proceeding under this chapter to eliminate any appearance of disproportionate influence by any of those parties;
(J) Ensure that consumers and shareholders share the benefits of electric utility investment in facilities supplying retail electric generation service;
(K) Provide coherent, transparent means of giving appropriate incentives to technologies that can adapt successfully to potential environmental mandates;
(L) Protect at-risk populations when considering the implementation of any new advanced energy technology;
(M) Encourage implementation of distributed generation across customer classes through regular review and updating of rules governing critical issues such as, but not limited to, interconnection standards, standby charges, and net metering;
(N) Encourage the education of small business owners in this state regarding the use of, and encourage the use of, energy efficiency programs and advanced energy technologies in their businesses;
(O) Facilitate the state's effectiveness in the global economy.
Sec. 4928.05.  (A)(1)(a) On and after the starting date of competitive retail electric service, a competitive retail electric service supplied by an electric utility or electric services company shall not be subject to supervision and regulation by a municipal corporation under Chapter 743. of the Revised Code or by the public utilities commission under Chapters 4901. to 4909., 4933., 4935., and 4963. of the Revised Code, except section sections 4905.10 and 4905.31, division (B) of section 4905.33, and sections 4905.35 and 4933.81 to 4933.90; except sections 4905.06, 4935.03, 4963.40, and 4963.41 of the Revised Code only to the extent related to service reliability and public safety; and except as otherwise provided in this chapter. The commission's authority to enforce those excepted provisions with respect to a competitive retail electric service shall be such authority as is provided for their enforcement under Chapters 4901. to 4909., 4933., 4935., and 4963. of the Revised Code and this chapter.
(b) Notwithstanding division (A)(1)(a) of this section, the commission may so supervise and regulate competitive retail electric service provided to consumers by an electric utility in this state if the commission determines the supervision and regulation is necessary to implement the state policy specified in section 4928.02 of the Revised Code.
(c) On and after the starting date of competitive retail electric service, a competitive retail electric service supplied by an electric cooperative shall not be subject to supervision and regulation by the commission under Chapters 4901. to 4909., 4933., 4935., and 4963. of the Revised Code, except as otherwise expressly provided in sections 4928.01 to 4928.10 and 4928.16 of the Revised Code.
(2) On and after the starting date of competitive retail electric service, a noncompetitive retail electric service supplied by an electric utility shall be subject to supervision and regulation by the commission under Chapters 4901. to 4909., 4933., 4935., and 4963. of the Revised Code and this chapter, to the extent that authority is not preempted by federal law. The commission's authority to enforce those provisions with respect to a noncompetitive retail electric service shall be the authority provided under those chapters and this chapter, to the extent the authority is not preempted by federal law.
The commission shall exercise its jurisdiction with respect to the delivery of electricity by an electric utility in this state on or after the starting date of competitive retail electric service so as to ensure that no aspect of the delivery of electricity by the utility to consumers in this state that consists of a noncompetitive retail electric service is unregulated.
On and after that starting date, a noncompetitive retail electric service supplied by an electric cooperative shall not be subject to supervision and regulation by the commission under Chapters 4901. to 4909., 4933., 4935., and 4963. of the Revised Code, except sections 4933.81 to 4933.90 and 4935.03 of the Revised Code. The commission's authority to enforce those excepted sections with respect to a noncompetitive retail electric service of an electric cooperative shall be such authority as is provided for their enforcement under Chapters 4933. and 4935. of the Revised Code.
(B) Nothing in this chapter affects the authority of the commission under Title XLIX of the Revised Code to regulate an electric light company in this state or an electric service supplied in this state prior to the starting date of competitive retail electric service.
Sec. 4928.111.  An electric distribution utility for which a standard service offer consisting of an electric security plan under section 4928.14 of the Revised Code has been approved by the public utilities commission shall file with the commission a long-term energy delivery infrastructure modernization plan or any plan providing for the utility's recovery of costs and a just and reasonable rate of return on such infrastructure modernization. A plan shall specify the initiatives the utility must take to improve electric service reliability by rebuilding, upgrading, or replacing the utility's distribution system. The plan shall be filed under an application under section 4909.18 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 4928.14.  (A) After its market development period, an An electric distribution utility in this state shall provide consumers, on a comparable and nondiscriminatory basis within its certified territory, a market-based standard service offer of all competitive retail electric services necessary to maintain essential electric service to consumers, including a firm supply of electric generation service. Such offer shall be filed with the public utilities commission under section 4909.18 of the Revised Code.
(B) After that market development period, each electric distribution utility also shall offer customers within its certified territory an option to purchase competitive retail electric service the price of which is determined through a competitive bidding process. Prior to January 1, 2004, the commission shall adopt rules concerning the conduct of the competitive bidding process, including the information requirements necessary for customers to choose this option and the requirements to evaluate qualified bidders. The commission may require that the competitive bidding process be reviewed by an independent third party. No generation supplier shall be prohibited from participating in the bidding process, provided that any winning bidder shall be considered a certified supplier for purposes of obligations to customers. At the election of the electric distribution utility, and approval of the commission, the competitive bidding option under this division may be used as the market-based standard offer required by division (A) of this section. The commission may determine at any time that a competitive bidding process is not required, if other means to accomplish generally the same option for customers is readily available in the market and a reasonable means for customer participation is developed.
(C) After the market development period, the (B) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the standard service offer of an electric utility in effect on the effective date of the amendment of this section by S.B. 221 of the 127th general assembly shall continue, as to each customer and customer class, as the utility's standard service offer for the purpose of compliance with division (A) of this section as the section is so amended.
(C) Beginning on the effective date of the amendment of this section by S.B. 221 of the 127th general assembly and pursuant to filing requirements the commission shall prescribe by rule, a utility may file an application for commission approval of a modified standard service offer. Upon that filing, the commission shall set the date and time for hearing, send written notice of the hearing to the utility, and publish notice of the hearing one time in a newspaper of general circulation in each county in the service area affected by the application.
(D)(1) A standard service offer proposed under division (C) of this section, and herein designated an electric security plan, shall adjust a utility's standard service offer relative to a change in one or more costs incurred on or after January 1, 2009, by the utility in rendering retail electric generation service under the offer, as each such cost shall be specified in the application. However, the amount of the adjustment shall be offset by any positive revenue associated with that cost. Costs may include, but not be limited to, any of the following:
(a) Environmental compliance costs incurred by the utility for any specified generating facility, as determined by the commission;
(b) The utility's cost of fuel for any specified generating facility or of purchased power, incurred to maintain reliable electricity supply for its generating service territory;
(c) The cost of construction of a specified generating facility that is located in this state and that, superseding Chapter 4906. of the Revised Code, the commission determines and certificates the need for on the basis of resource planning projections developed in accordance with policies and procedures the commission shall prescribe by rule. A price adjustment under division (D)(1)(c) of this section shall be a blended price and shall be for the life of the facility.
(d) A cost based upon a specified index, which cost shall be allocated to the appropriate customer class or classes.
However, costs under this division shall exclude financial penalties, fines, court costs, and attorney's fees associated with noncompliance with state or federal environmental laws or with facilities' permits.
A standard service offer that includes costs under division (D)(1)(a), (b), or (c) of this section may provide for automatic increases or decreases in the standard service offer price. A standard service offer that includes costs under division (D)(1)(d) of this section shall provide for automatic increases or decreases in the standard service offer price or prices.
In the case of an advanced energy technology or facility under section 4928.142 of the Revised Code, the costs of which are included in a standard service offer as authorized under this division, the portion of the standard service offer price attributable to those costs shall be bypassable by a consumer that has exercised choice of supplier under section 4928.03 of the Revised Code, but bypassable only to the extent the commission determines that the advanced energy technology or facilities implemented by that supplier are comparable to that implemented by the utility under section 4928.142 of the Revised Code as of the issuance of an order under division (D)(5) of this section for the purpose of the utility's compliance with division (A) of section 4928.142 of the Revised Code.
(2)(a) For the purpose of a utility's initial application under division (D)(1) of this section, the adjustment for a particular cost shall be determined using a baseline measure of cost and associated revenue as of January 1, 2008.
(b) If a utility continues to provide its standard service offer pursuant to an electric security plan, for any later such application by the utility, the baseline measure shall be the cost and associated revenue as determined under the utility's then existing approved plan.
(3) A standard service offer under division (D)(1) of this section may specify the standard, factors, or methodology that the commission shall use for the purpose of division (E)(2)(b) of this section if the utility, within such timeframe as the commission shall specify in its order under division (D)(5) of this section, later files an application pursuant to division (E) of this section.
(4) Regarding an application filed under division (D)(1) of this section by a utility that transferred all or part of its generating facilities to an affiliate of the utility and to the extent authorized by federal law, the commission may consider purchased power or other contracts or agreements between the utility and any of its affiliates or between the utility and the holding company owning or controlling the utility.
(5) The burden of proof under division (D)(5) of this section shall be on the utility. The commission by order may approve or modify and approve a standard service offer under division (D)(1) of this section if it finds both of the following:
(a) The offer and the prices it establishes are just, reasonable, and prudent as to each customer class and are in furtherance of the policy specified in section 4928.02 of the Revised Code.
(b) Adjustments for construction costs under division (D)(1)(c) of this section are consistent with section 4909.15 of the Revised Code.
(c) The utility is in compliance with section 4928.141 of the Revised Code.
In its order, the commission shall prescribe any requirements for the utility as the commission considers necessary for the utility to implement the policy specified in section 4928.02 of the Revised Code. The order also shall provide a schedule and the procedural and substantive terms and conditions for periodic commission review of the approved offer.
(E)(1) A standard service offer proposed under division (C) of this section, and herein designated a market rate option, shall require that the utility's standard service offer price be determined periodically through an open, competitive bidding process. Prior to the approval of such an offer under division (E)(2) of this section, the utility shall conduct such competitive bidding for the purpose of establishing the original price under the offer.
(2) The burden of proof under division (E)(2) of this section shall be on the utility. The commission by order shall approve or modify and approve the standard service offer under division (E)(1) of this section if the commission determines all of the following are met:
(a) The utility is in compliance with section 4928.141 of the Revised Code.
(b) With respect to generation service, the relevant markets are subject to effective competition. For that purpose and except as otherwise provided under division (D)(3) of this section, the commission shall consider the factors prescribed in division (D) of section 4928.06 of the Revised Code and such other or additional factors as the commission may prescribe by rule. The commission shall prescribe by rule the methodology it will use to evaluate whether the effective competition standard under division (E)(2)(b) of this section is met.
(c) The standard service offer price for a customer class as determined under competitive bidding under division (E)(1) of this section is more favorable than, or at least comparable to, its price-to-compare for that class. That price-to-compare shall be the price that the commission shall determine for the comparable time period and in the manner of an electric security plan under division (D) of this section:
In its order, the commission shall prescribe any requirements for the utility as it considers necessary for the utility to implement the policy specified in section 4928.02 of the Revised Code. The order also shall provide the procedural and substantive terms and conditions for periodic commission review of the approved offer. That review shall provide for the reconciliation of the standard service offer price to ensure that the price is just, reasonable, and prudent and in furtherance of the policy specified in section 4928.02 of the Revised Code.
(F) A utility's standard service offer approved under this section shall take effect on the date the commission shall specify in the approval order and, on that date, the newly approved offer shall supersede the prior standard service offer of the utility.
(G)(1) Nothing in this section precludes a utility for which a standard service offer under division (D) of this section has been approved by the commission in accordance with this section from later filing an application under division (E) of this section, or vice versa.
(2) The commission has no authority to require a utility, for which it has ever approved a market rate option standard service offer under division (E) of this section, to file an application under division (D) of this section.
(H) The failure of a supplier to provide retail electric generation service to customers within the certified territory of the electric distribution utility shall result in the supplier's customers, after reasonable notice, defaulting to the utility's standard service offer filed under division (A) of this section until the customer chooses an alternative supplier. A supplier is deemed under this division to have failed to provide such service if the commission finds, after reasonable notice and opportunity for hearing, that any of the following conditions are met:
(1) The supplier has defaulted on its contracts with customers, is in receivership, or has filed for bankruptcy.
(2) The supplier is no longer capable of providing the service.
(3) The supplier is unable to provide delivery to transmission or distribution facilities for such period of time as may be reasonably specified by commission rule adopted under division (A) of section 4928.06 of the Revised Code.
(4) The supplier's certification has been suspended, conditionally rescinded, or rescinded under division (D) of section 4928.08 of the Revised Code.
(I) Nothing in this section limits an electric distribution utility providing competitive retail electric service to electric load centers within the certified territory of another such utility.
Sec. 4928.141.  During a proceeding under section 4928.14 of the Revised Code and upon submission of an appropriate discovery request, an electric distribution utility shall make available to the requesting party every contract or agreement that is between the utility or any of its affiliates and a party to the proceeding, consumer, electric services company, or political subdivision and that is relevant to the proceeding, subject to such protection for proprietary or confidential information as is determined appropriate by the public utilities commission.
Sec. 4928.142. (A) Subject to division (B) of this section, an electric distribution utility by the end of 2025 shall provide a portion of the electricity supply required for its standard service offer under section 4928.14 of the Revised Code from advanced energy. That portion shall equal twenty-five per cent of the total number of kilowatt-hours of electricity supplied by the utility to any and all electric consumers whose electric load centers are located within the utility's certified territory. However, subject to division (B) of this section, nothing in this section precludes a utility from providing a greater percentage. The advanced energy supply shall be consistent with the following requirements:
(1) At least half of the advanced energy implemented by 2025 shall be generated from sustainable resources as defined in section 3706.01 of the Revised Code and shall include solar power. The remainder shall be supplied from advanced energy facilities as defined in divisions (X)(1) to (4) of section 3706.01 of the Revised Code.
(2) At least half of the advanced energy implemented by the end of 2025 shall be met through facilities located in this state.
The utility shall comply with division (A) of this section in a manner that considers available technology, costs, job creation, and economic impacts. To be counted toward the utility's compliance with division (A) of this section, the on-site construction of an advanced energy technology or facility shall be initiated after the effective date of this section. Any such technology or facility that complies with that division shall be and remain counted toward the utility's compliance.
(B)(1) If the commission determines, after notice and hearing, that the utility has failed to comply with division (A) of this section, the commission shall issue an order requiring the utility to comply fully within such time as shall be specified in the order and shall specify in the order the process and schedule for verifying to the commission the utility's compliance with the order.
(2) Full compliance shall not be mandated under division (B)(1) of this section to the extent that the ratio between the blended advanced energy and nonadvanced energy price under this section in 2025 and the portion of that price attributable to nonadvanced energy exceeds one and three-hundredths.
(3) Only division (B)(2) of section 4928.16 of the Revised Code applies if the commission determines in an order issued under division (B)(1) of this section that the utility has failed to comply with division (A) of this section, or if the commission by order determines in a later proceeding and after notice and hearing that the utility has failed to comply with an order issued under division (B)(1) of this section.
(C) The commission annually shall submit to the general assembly in accordance with section 101.68 of the Revised Code a report describing the compliance of electric distribution utilities with divisions (A) and (B) of this section and any interim goals or strategy for utility compliance with those divisions or for encouraging the use of advanced energy in supplying this state's electricity needs in a manner that considers available technology, costs, job creation, and economic impacts. The commission shall allow and consider public comments on the report prior to its submission to the general assembly. Nothing in the report shall be binding on any person, including any utility for the purpose of its compliance with division (A) of this section, or the enforcement of that provision under division (B) of this section.
Sec. 4928.17.  (A) Except as otherwise provided in sections 4928.14 and 4928.31 to 4928.40 of the Revised Code and beginning on the starting date of competitive retail electric service, no electric utility shall engage in this state, either directly or through an affiliate, in the businesses of supplying a noncompetitive retail electric service and supplying a competitive retail electric service, or in the businesses of supplying a noncompetitive retail electric service and supplying a product or service other than retail electric service, unless the utility implements and operates under a corporate separation plan that is approved by the public utilities commission under this section, is consistent with the policy specified in section 4928.02 of the Revised Code, and achieves all of the following:
(1) The plan provides, at minimum, for the provision of the competitive retail electric service or the nonelectric product or service through a fully separated affiliate of the utility, and the plan includes separate accounting requirements, the code of conduct as ordered by the commission pursuant to a rule it shall adopt under division (A) of section 4928.06 of the Revised Code, and such other measures as are necessary to effectuate the policy specified in section 4928.02 of the Revised Code.
(2) The plan satisfies the public interest in preventing unfair competitive advantage and preventing the abuse of market power.
(3) The plan is sufficient to ensure that the utility will not extend any undue preference or advantage to any affiliate, division, or part of its own business engaged in the business of supplying the competitive retail electric service or nonelectric product or service, including, but not limited to, utility resources such as trucks, tools, office equipment, office space, supplies, customer and marketing information, advertising, billing and mailing systems, personnel, and training, without compensation based upon fully loaded embedded costs charged to the affiliate; and to ensure that any such affiliate, division, or part will not receive undue preference or advantage from any affiliate, division, or part of the business engaged in business of supplying the noncompetitive retail electric service. No such utility, affiliate, division, or part shall extend such undue preference. Notwithstanding any other division of this section, a utility's obligation under division (A)(3) of this section shall be effective January 1, 2000.
(B) The commission may approve, modify and approve, or disapprove a corporate separation plan filed with the commission under division (A) of this section. As part of the code of conduct required under division (A)(1) of this section, the commission shall adopt rules pursuant to division (A) of section 4928.06 of the Revised Code regarding corporate separation and procedures for plan filing and approval. The rules shall include limitations on affiliate practices solely for the purpose of maintaining a separation of the affiliate's business from the business of the utility to prevent unfair competitive advantage by virtue of that relationship. The rules also shall include an opportunity for any person having a real and substantial interest in the corporate separation plan to file specific objections to the plan and propose specific responses to issues raised in the objections, which objections and responses the commission shall address in its final order. Prior to commission approval of the plan, the commission shall afford a hearing upon those aspects of the plan that the commission determines reasonably require a hearing. The commission may reject and require refiling of a substantially inadequate plan under this section.
(C) The commission shall issue an order approving or modifying and approving a corporate separation plan under this section, to be effective on the date specified in the order, only upon findings that the plan reasonably complies with the requirements of division (A) of this section and will provide for ongoing compliance with the policy specified in section 4928.02 of the Revised Code. However, for good cause shown, the commission may issue an order approving or modifying and approving a corporate separation plan under this section that does not comply with division (A)(1) of this section but complies with such functional separation requirements as the commission authorizes to apply for an interim period prescribed in the order, upon a finding that such alternative plan will provide for ongoing compliance with the policy specified in section 4928.02 of the Revised Code.
(D) Any party may seek an amendment to a corporate separation plan approved under this section, and the commission, pursuant to a request from any party or on its own initiative, may order as it considers necessary the filing of an amended corporate separation plan to reflect changed circumstances.
(E) Notwithstanding section 4905.20, 4905.21, 4905.46, or 4905.48 of the Revised Code, an No electric utility may divest itself of shall sell or transfer any generating asset at any time facility it owns in whole or in part to any person without prior commission approval, subject to the provisions of Title XLIX of the Revised Code relating to the transfer of transmission, distribution, or ancillary service provided by such generating asset.
Sec. 4928.20.  (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, on or after the starting date of competitive retail electric service, it may aggregate in accordance with this section the retail electrical loads located, respectively, within the municipal corporation, township, or unincorporated area of the county and, for that purpose, may enter into service agreements to facilitate for those loads the sale and purchase of electricity. The legislative authority or board also may exercise such authority jointly with any other such legislative authority or board. For customers that are not mercantile commercial customers, an ordinance or resolution under this division shall specify whether the aggregation will occur only with the prior, affirmative consent of each person owning, occupying, controlling, or using an electric 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. The aggregation of mercantile commercial customers shall occur only with the prior, affirmative consent of each such person owning, occupying, controlling, or using an electric load center proposed to be aggregated. Nothing in this division, however, authorizes the aggregation of the retail electric loads of an electric load center, as defined in section 4933.81 of the Revised Code, that is located in the certified territory of a nonprofit electric supplier under sections 4933.81 to 4933.90 of the Revised Code or an electric load center served by transmission or distribution facilities of a municipal electric utility.
(B) If an ordinance or resolution adopted under division (A) of this section specifies that aggregation of customers that are not mercantile commercial customers 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 of customers that are not mercantile commercial customers as described in division (A) of this section, shall aggregate the electrical load of any electric 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 up to every two four years, without paying a switching fee. Any such person that opts out of the aggregation program pursuant to the stated procedure shall default to the standard service offer provided under division (A) of section 4928.14 or division (D) of section 4928.35 of the Revised Code 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 731.28 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 731.28 to 731.40 of the Revised Code, except that:
(a) The petitions shall be filed, respectively, with the township fiscal officer 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, respectively, the township or the unincorporated area of the county 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 electricity, 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 electric service it provides and commission authority under this chapter.
(G) This section does not apply in the case of a municipal corporation that supplies such aggregated service to electric load centers to which its municipal electric utility also supplies a noncompetitive retail electric service through transmission or distribution facilities the utility singly or jointly owns or operates.
(H) A governmental aggregator shall not include in its aggregation the accounts of any of the following:
(1) A customer that has opted out of the aggregation;
(2) A customer in contract with a certified competitive retail electric services provider;
(3) A customer that has a special contract with an electric distribution utility;
(4) A customer that is not located within the governmental aggregator's governmental boundaries;
(5) Subject to division (C) of section 4928.21 of the Revised Code, a customer who appears on the "do not aggregate" list maintained under that section.
Sec. 4928.21.  (A) A customer that desires to remove itself from the pool of customers eligible to participate in governmental aggregation under section 4928.20 of the Revised Code may register with the public utilities commission to appear on the "do not aggregate" list.
(B) The commission, by rule, shall establish a "do not aggregate" list. The commission shall maintain the "do not aggregate" list and make it publicly available on the commission's web site.
(C) If a customer is enrolled in a governmental aggregation program at the time the customer first appears on the "do not aggregate" list, the governmental aggregator shall remove the customer from the program at the next two-year opt out opportunity that is available to the customer under division (D) of section 4928.20 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 4928.64.  The public utilities commission shall adopt rules to establish energy efficiency standards applicable to electric distribution utilities such that, by 2025, any such utility shall implement energy efficiency measures that will result in not less than twenty-five per cent of actual growth in electric load and not less than ten per cent of total peak demand being achieved through those measures. The rules shall include a requirement that an electric distribution utility provide a customer upon request with three years' consumption data in an accessible form. Additionally, the rules may provide for decoupling.
Sec. 4928.68.  The public utilities commission shall employ a federal energy advocate to monitor the activities of the federal energy regulatory commission and other federal agencies and advocate on behalf of the interests of retail electric service consumers in this state. The attorney general shall represent the advocate before the federal energy regulatory commission and other federal agencies. Among other duties assigned to the advocate by the commission, the advocate shall examine the value of the participation of this state's electric utilities in regional transmission organizations and submit a report to the public utilities commission on whether continued participation of those utilities is in the interest of those consumers.
Sec. 4928.69.  The public utilities commission shall adopt rules establishing greenhouse gas emission reporting requirements, including participation in the climate registry, and carbon control planning requirements for each electric generating facility located in this state that emits greenhouse gases, including facilities in operation on the effective date of this section.
Section 2.  That existing sections 122.41, 122.451, 3706.01, 3706.02, 3706.03, 3706.04, 3706.041, 3706.05, 3706.06, 3706.07, 3706.08, 3706.09, 3706.10, 3706.11, 3706.12, 3706.13, 3706.14, 3706.15, 3706.16, 3706.17, 3706.18, 4905.31, 4905.40, 4928.02, 4928.05, 4928.14, 4928.17, 4928.20, and 4928.21 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.
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