Study of the impacts of regulations affecting the acceptance of Integrated Community Energy Systems: public utility, energy facility siting and municipal franchising regulatory programs in Ohio. Preliminary background report

Abstract

The Public Utilities Commission (PUCO) is a body created by the Ohio State legislature to administer the provisions of the Ohio Public Utilities Act. It is composed of three commissioners appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the senate. Once appointed, a commissioner serves for a six-year period. The PUCO is vested with the power and jurisdiction to supervise and regulate public utilities and railroads... . The term public utility includes every corporation, company, co-partnership, person or association, their lessees, trustees, or receivers, as defined in the Ohio Code. Among the various services enumerated in the Code under the definition of public utility are an electric light company; a gas company; a pipeline company transporting gas, oil or coal; a waterworks company; a heating or cooling company. The power to regulate public utilities is shared by the PUCO and municipal governments. The municipal regulatory authority is derived from the Ohio Constitution, statutory provisions, and municipal franchising authority. Public utility regulatory statutes, energy facility siting programs, and municipal franchising authority are examined to identify how they may impact on the ability of an organization, whether or not it be a regulated utility, to construct and operate an ICES.