COLUMBUS — A bipartisan pair of Ohio House lawmakers has introduced a bill that would force electric utilities to compensate customers when the lights stay out too long. The Ohio Power Outage Relief Act was announced Tuesday by Rep. David Thomas (R-Jefferson) and Rep. Tristan Rader (D-Cleveland).
Under the proposal, customers would receive an automatic bill credit of at least $50 — or the cost of their monthly electric bill, whichever is higher — when an outage qualifies, plus another credit for each additional 24 hours without power. An outage would qualify if power is out for at least 16 hours under normal conditions, longer during major storms or disasters, or if a customer suffers six sustained outages in a single year. The bill would also reimburse losses from spoiled food and medications: up to $250 for self-reported claims and up to $600 for documented losses, with some refrigerated prescription drugs eligible for even more.
Critically, utilities would be barred from raising rates or adding fees to recover the cost of the credits and reimbursements. “When the power goes out, the electric bill still comes,” Rader said. “Families are paying for a service they depend on. When that service fails, they deserve more than an apology. They deserve their money back and help replacing what they lost.” The bill has not yet been assigned to a committee in the Republican-controlled legislature.