** Utilities back anti-protest bills in Ohio and other states ([link removed])
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By Dave Anderson on Feb 10, 2020 02:37 pm
Dominion Energy and Duke Energy are backing a controversial anti-protest bill in Ohio, the latest front in a national campaign by the American Legislative Exchange Council and its funders in the fossil fuel and utility industries to stifle environmental activism.

The Ohio House Public Utilities Committee voted to move forward with the bill, SB 33 ([link removed]) , last week. The vote came during a tense hearing, during which the committee refused to hear spoken testimony from Ohioans who turned out to oppose the bill. State police were called in ([link removed]) to remove the bill’s opponents, who protested the move by the committee ([link removed]) .

A version of the bill passed the Ohio Senate last year, and it now awaits a vote by the full Ohio House. More than 160 people testified against the bill ([link removed]) since it was first introduced last February, while testimony in support of the bill came from nine lobbyists.

Industry supporters of the bill, and others like it introduced in states around the country ([link removed]) , say it’s designed to protect what they call “critical infrastructure,” a term which includes pipelines, coal plants, and gas plants that contribute to climate change and air and water pollution.

Opponents warn ([link removed]) that the bill is so broadly worded that it could open the door to penalties for acts as simple as posting a flyer on a telephone pole, and treat certain types of protest as third-degree felonies ([link removed]) .

“This is designed to discourage protest,” the chief lobbyist for the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio ([link removed]) said.

Last year, lobbyist Rob Eshenbaugh testified ([link removed]) before the Ohio House committee on behalf of “a large and diverse collection of companies and trade associations that are supportive of SB 33.”

Dominion Energy and Duke Energy were named on a list of supporters that Eshenbaugh provided to the committee ([link removed]) , along with industry groups like the American Petroleum Institute and Ohio’s Electric Cooperatives:

List of SB 33 Supporters (p. 2) ([link removed])

IFRAME: [1]//www.documentcloud.org/documents/6771900-Lobbyist-Rob-Eshenbaugh-testimony-on-behalf-of/annotations/549734.html?embed=true&maxheight=1000&maxwidth=900

View entire document on DocumentCloud ([link removed])

Public records ([link removed]) by Documented ([link removed]) , a corporate watchdog group, also show that the calendar for state senator Frank Hoagland, the primary sponsor of SB 33, included a meeting last April to discuss “critical infrastructure” with John Keaton ([link removed]) , the director of state and regulatory affairs for Duke Energy in Ohio.

Lobbyists for a number of electric and gas utility interests also disclosed lobbying on the bill during the final quarter of 2019 ([link removed]) , including lobbyists representing:
* American Electric Power
* American Municipal Power
* Columbia Gas of Ohio
* Dayton Power & Light
* Dominion Energy
* Duke Energy
* FirstEnergy
* Lightstone Generation
* Ohio Gas Association
* Ohio Electric Utility Institute
* Ohio Independent Power Producers
* Ohio Municipal Electric Association
* Ohio Rural Electric Cooperatives
* Ohio Utilities Protection Service
* Retail Energy Supply Association
* Vectren Corporation

Lobbyists for fossil fuel interests also lobbied on the bill last quarter ([link removed]) , including the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers, American Petroleum Institute, BP America, ExxonMobil, Marathon Petroleum, the Ohio Coal Association, and Ohio Oil and Gas Association. Others lobbying on the bill earlier last year ([link removed]) included the Alliance for Energy Choice, Energy Transfer Partners, Enbridge, Murray Energy, and TransCanada.

Hoagland also introduced an earlier version of the bill, SB 250, in 2018, but that bill failed. Public records show that Hoagland met with Keaton ([link removed]) and Eshenbaugh to discuss that earlier bill that year ([link removed]) .


** SB 33 is based on an ALEC model bill backed by the utility and fossil fuel industries
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Ohio’s SB 33 is based on a so-called “model policy” dubbed the “Critical Infrastructure Protection Act ([link removed]) ” that was adopted in 2017 by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), whose legislative members have introduced copy-cat bills in at least 24 states. Ohio is currently one of seven statesconsidering such legislation ([link removed]) .

PolluterWatch, a project of Greenpeace, is tracking these proposals ([link removed]) , which threaten to criminalize protests of pipelines and other energy infrastructure. PolluterWatch found ([link removed]) that 15 of 18 state legislators who are sponsoring SB 33 are ALEC members.

The list of companies lobbying on SB 33 notably includes companies like AEP ([link removed]) , BP ([link removed]) , and ExxonMobil ([link removed]) that left ALEC in the face of public protest over the group’s climate change denial and obstruction of clean energy policies. A lobbyist for AEP registered to attend at least one ALEC meeting ([link removed]) since the company left the group in 2015.

Duke Energy and Dominion Energy shareholders ([link removed]) have raised concerns about the companies’ membership in ALEC.

“Duke Energy does not disclose membership in or contributions to tax-exempt organizations that write and endorse model legislation, such as its membership in the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), whose model legislation often works against climate regulation and energy transition,” according to aDuke Energy shareholder resolution on lobbying disclosure from last year ([link removed]) .


** Fossil fuel and utility interests support ALEC’s anti-protest bill because it targets environmentalists
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A 2017 letter ([link removed]) that asked members of ALEC’s Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force to adopt the Critical Infrastructure Protection Act as a model policy was signed by the Edison Electric Institute (EEI), the industry group that represents investor-owned utilities. The American Chemistry Council, American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, American Petroleum Institute, and Marathon Petroleum also signed the letter.

“Energy infrastructure is often targeted by environmentalists to raise awareness of climate change, and other perceived environmental challenges,” the letter said.

As Alexander Kaufmann previously reported for the Huffington Post ([link removed]) , the letter placed non-violent protests of oil and gas pipeline on par with violent acts targeting energy infrastructure by individuals whose motives have nothing to do with environmental protection.

“We look forward to working with you as you continue to address this growing problem in your state,” the joint letter concluded.

Jennifer Jura, then a manager of policy and policy coalitions for the National Rural Electric Cooperatives Association, chaired the ALEC task force at the time. Jura still chairs the task force, though she now works as a director of external affairs for EEI.


** Public opposition to new pipelines in Ohio
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The gas industry scored some big political wins in Ohio last year, despite public opposition to new pipelines in local communities.

Governor Mike DeDiwine appointed Samuel Randazzo, previously aninfluential lobbyist for the gas industry ([link removed]) , as the new chair of the Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB), which has authority over the construction of new pipelines in the state.

In November, Randazzo and the OPSB announced their approval of Duke Energy’s Central Corridor pipeline project ([link removed]) . Local communities ([link removed]) and groups like Neighbors Opposing Pipeline Extension ([link removed]) , or N.O.P.E., oppose the project. Last month, an administrative law granted opponents’ application for a rehearing ([link removed]) of the case.

Dominion Energy’s multi-state Atlantic Coast Pipeline project also faces serious public opposition ([link removed]) . It would transport gas produced in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia to North Carolina and Virginia.

ExxonMobil’s 2018 fracked gas well blowout ([link removed]) and problem prone projects like the Rover Pipeline ([link removed]) have also contributed to public concerns about the rapid proliferation of new gas infrastructure in Ohio.

Top: photo of a N.O.P.E. yard sign from the group’s Facebook page ([link removed])

The post Utilities back anti-protest bills in Ohio and other states ([link removed]) appeared first on Energy and Policy Institute ([link removed]) .

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