Public Utilities Commission of Ohio

Here are your morning headlines for Thursday, April 26:

Corporations are seeing big savings as the effects of the large federal tax cut take place. Now state energy regulators want to see if Ohio’s major utilities are going to pass those savings on to the ratepayers. It’s unknown whether the corporation tax cuts will result in lower electric bills.

The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio has opened up hearings to find out if utilities should decrease electric bills based on the money they’re getting from the big corporate tax cut.

Leaders in the House and Senate are on the brink of approving a provision that would allow power companies to add another fee to your electric bill. The idea is to boost the utilities’ credit ratings.

The line item in the budget would give the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio the authority to allow price hikes in order to raise a utility’s credit rating.

The Ohio Senate has rejected a major appointment by Gov. John Kasich. As statehouse correspondent Andy Chow reports, this could be a sign of friction among Ohio’s top Republicans.

Months of tension between the Senate and Gov. Kasich over his nomination of Columbus lawyer Howard Petricoff to the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio culminated this week when a committee voted to reject Petricoff.

The Senate is called to advise and consent on gubernatorial nominations. Usually these committee votes are just a formality.