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Government


Budget slashes Consumers' Counsel funding by half
If the Ohio Senate passes the budget passed by House, the Ohio Consumers' Counsel faces cuts that could mean higher rates for customers 
Story by MARANDA SHREWSBERRY


 

If the Senate goes along with the state budget passed by the Ohio House last week, funding for the Ohio Consumers Counsel would be cut 51 percent. The agency represents residential customers of the state’s utilities.

Republicans have justified the cuts, saying the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio – which sets public utility rates in the state – can represent consumers’ interests adequately.

But Janice Beecher, director of Institute of the Public Utilities institute at Michigan State University, says it is important to have agencies like the consumers’ counsel.

Beecher says not to undermine the importance of consumer opinions.

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Consumers’ Counsel Janine Migden-Ostrander is protesting the cuts, saying they’ll mean higher utility rates for customers. The House budget also eliminates a public help line in her office.

The consumers council budget comes from fees paid by utilities, not from the state’s squeezed general fund. 

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