Vistra Energy Corp., owner of Cincinnati-area power plants, joins effort to repeal nuclear bailout linked to Householder case

The owner of two Cincinnati-area power plants has joined a coalition to repeal House Bill 6, the controversial $1 billion bailout of nuclear power plants that sparked the federal indictment on corruption charges of former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and other political insiders.

Texas-based Vistra Energy Corp. has joined the recently launched Coalition to Restore Public Trust. Vistra owns two Greater Cincinnati coal-fired power plants, Miami Fort in North Bend in western Hamilton County and the Zimmer Power Station in Moscow, a village in Clermont County.

The company employs more than 400 people in the region and has a retail energy business called Dynegy. It has 120 employees at Miami Fort and 165 at Zimmer. Overall, Vistra has four gas, two coal and two oil-fueled plants in the state.

“We the believe in competitive markets. We oppose subsidies, especially subsidies baked into a corrupt law that harms the competitive market, our customers and our employees,” Meranda Cohn, the company’s media relations director, said in a statement.

In 2019, state lawmakers and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine approved the bill, which charges every utility customer in the state a 85-cent monthly fee to subsidize two northern Ohio nuclear power plants owned by the successor company to FirstEnergy Solutions, Akron-based Energy Harbor.

“The coalition’s mission is to educate the public on House Bill 6 and promote the repeal of this illegitimate legislation in its entirety,” said Michael Hartley, executive director of the Coalition. “House Bill 6 is the product of a severely flawed process and it is imperative that the Ohio legislature repeals it completely in order to restore the public trust.”

The coalition will launch a digital ad campaign costing more than $1 million as a part of its repeal effort. Hartley declined to say whether or which Cincinnati-area districts would be targeted.

“With the ad campaign starting yesterday, legislators will know soon enough,” he said. “This ad campaign will communicate directly with constituents in these legislative districts to educate them on the corruption surrounding House Bill 6. It will also provide them a vehicle to contact their legislator directly to urge them to fully repeal this flawed and tainted legislation. This robust ad campaign will allow Ohioans to show legislators the light, or make them feel the heat.”

An August poll conducted by EMC Research and the Tarrance Group found 55% of Ohioans oppose HB6, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

DeWine, who has not been accused of any wrongdoing, has said he wants the law repealed and replaced. He has defended the nuclear bailout, noting the 1,500 jobs at stake.

The U.S. attorney's office alleges Householder, Republican strategist and former state GOP chair Matt Borges, Householder adviser Jeff Longstreth, and Columbus lobbyists Juan Cespedes and Neil Clark were involved in a $60 million racketeering conspiracy involving wire fraud, bribes and money laundering.

Other members include energy, environmental and public policy organizations: