Public Utilities Commission of Ohio
The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) is the public utilities commission of the U.S. state of Ohio, charged with the regulation of utility service providers such as those of electricity, natural gas, and telecommunications as well as railroad safety and intrastate hazardous materials transport.
There are several ways by which the Commission attempts to do this:[1]
- Enforcement of laws against service deemed unfair or unsafe
- Hearing disputes between utilities and residential, business, and industrial customers, as well as between competing utilities.
- Assuring availability of residential, business, and industrial utility services
- Providing consumers with relevant information about their rights and responsibilities
- Regulating rates for utility services in which there is little to no competition (i.e. electricity and natural gas services)
- Periodically creating and changing Ohio Administrative Code that is related to its mission
- Acting in some manner to relate the relevant Administrative Code to the regulated and deregulated commercial utility activity
Following the move toward deregulation of retail energy during the 1990s, the Ohio legislature set forth provisions for allowing competitive retail energy suppliers, in addition to the main distribution utility companies.
Commissioners
There are five commissioners (one of whom serves as chairman) as well as approximately 320 agency employees. Each commissioner is appointed by the residing governor to a five-year term. Current commissioners are:[2]
- Andre T. Porter (chair), through April 2020
- Lynn Slaby, through April 2017
- Asim Z. Haque, through April 2016
- Thomas W. Johnson, through April 2019
- M. Beth Trombold, through April 2018
Notes
- ↑ PUCO website
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