If your power goes out, a bipartisan Ohio bill would require electric companies to give you money back and reimburse some losses from outages.
Ohio House lawmakers Rep. David Thomas (R-Jefferson) and Rep. Tristan Rader (D-Cleveland) on Tuesday announced the Ohio Power Outage Relief Act, a bill that would compensate customers for certain lengthy or repeated power outages, as well as losses such as spoiled groceries and medications.
Here's what the bill would do.
How Ohio power outage reimbursement bill would work
The bill would give customers bill credits after certain outages, reimburse some food and medication losses, and prevent utilities from passing those costs on to customers.
Here's a breakdown of what happens under the proposal:
- Automatic bill credits: Customers would get an automatic credit of at least $50, or the cost of their monthly electric bill, whichever is higher, when an outage qualifies. They would get another credit for every additional 24 hours without power.
- Lengthy outages: Customers could qualify if their power is out for at least 16 hours under normal conditions, longer during major storms or disasters, or if they experience six sustained outages in a year.
- Money for spoiled food and medications: Customers could receive up to $250 for self-reported losses and up to $600 for documented losses. Some refrigerated prescription medications could qualify for reimbursement above that amount.
- No passing costs to customers: Utilities could not raise rates or add fees to recover the cost of those credits and reimbursements.
"When the power goes out, the electric bill still comes. So does
the cost of replacing a refrigerator full of groceries and lifesaving medication," Rader said in a release. "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."
When customers would qualify to get money back after a power outage
According to the bill language, customers could qualify for compensation if:
- The power is out for at least 16 hours under normal conditions.
- The power is out for at least 36 hours during major weather events.
- The power is out for at least 72 hours during catastrophic events.
- Customers experience six sustained outages within one year.
Where the bill stands now
The bill has been introduced but has not yet been assigned a bill number or committee assignment.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Power out for hours? Ohio bill would mean money back for customers
