HB 265

As Introduced
136th General Assembly
   Regular Session  H. B. No. 265
       2025-2026
  Representatives Brennan, Fischer
Cosponsors: Representatives Rogers, Upchurch, Synenberg, Lett, Dean, Hall, T.,
  Humphrey, Gross, Hiner, Workman
  To amend sections 4905.02 and 4905.03 of the  1
  Revised Code to regulate resellers of public  2
  utility services as public utilities.  3
 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
     Section 1. That sections 4905.02 and 4905.03 of the  4
Revised Code be amended to read as follows:  5
     Sec. 4905.02. (A) As used in this chapter, "public  6
utility" includes every corporation, company, copartnership,  7
person, or association, the lessees, trustees, or receivers of  8
the foregoing, defined in section 4905.03 of the Revised Code,  9
including any public utility that operates its utility not for  10
profit, except the following:  11
     (1) An electric light company that operates its utility  12
not for profit;  13
     (2) A public utility, other than a telephone company, that  14
is owned and operated exclusively by and solely for the  15
utility's customers, including any consumer or group of  16
consumers purchasing, delivering, storing, or transporting, or  17
seeking to purchase, deliver, store, or transport, natural gas  18
H. B. No. 265  Page 2
As Introduced
exclusively by and solely for the consumer's or consumers' own  19
intended use as the end user or end users and not for profit;  20
       (3) A public utility that is owned or operated by any  21
municipal corporation;  22
       (4) A railroad as defined in sections 4907.02 and 4907.03  23
of the Revised Code;  24
       (5) Any provider, including a telephone company, with  25
respect to its provision of any of the following:  26
       (a) Advanced services as defined in 47 C.F.R. 51.5;  27
       (b) Broadband service, however defined or classified by  28
the federal communications commission;  29
       (c) Information service as defined in the  30
"Telecommunications Act of 1996," 110 Stat. 59, 47 U.S.C.  31
153(20);  32
       (d) Subject to division (A) of section 4927.03 of the  33
Revised Code, internet protocol-enabled services as defined in  34
section 4927.01 of the Revised Code;  35
       (e) Subject to division (A) of section 4927.03 of the  36
Revised Code, any telecommunications service as defined in  37
section 4927.01 of the Revised Code to which both of the  38
following apply:  39
       (i) The service was not commercially available on  40
September 13, 2010, the effective date of the amendment of this  41
section by S.B. 162 of the 128th general assembly.  42
       (ii) The service employs technology that became available  43
for commercial use only after September 13, 2010, the effective  44
date of the amendment of this section by S.B. 162 of the 128th  45
H. B. No. 265  Page 3
As Introduced
general assembly.  46
       (6) A landlord, condominium association or property owner  47
that provides submetered public utility service solely for the  48
purpose of allocating and billing utility costs to tenants or  49
owners in residential properties, where such service is limited  50
to cost allocation and does not constitute the redistribution or  51
resale of a public utility service.  52
       (B)(1) "Public utility" includes a for-hire motor carrier  53
even if the carrier is operated in connection with an entity  54
described in division (A)(1), (2), (4), or (5) of this section.  55
       (2) Division (A) of this section shall not be construed to  56
relieve a private motor carrier, operated in connection with an  57
entity described in division (A)(1), (2), (4), or (5) of this  58
section, from compliance with either of the following:  59
       (a) Chapter 4923. of the Revised Code;  60
       (b) Rules governing unified carrier registration adopted  61
under section 4921.11 of the Revised Code.  62
       Sec. 4905.03. As used in this chapter, any person, firm,  63
copartnership, voluntary association, joint-stock association,  64
company, or corporation, wherever organized or incorporated, is:  65
       (A) A telephone company, when engaged in the business of  66
transmitting telephonic messages to, from, through, or in this  67
state;  68
       (B) A for-hire motor carrier, when engaged in the business  69
of transporting persons or property by motor vehicle for  70
compensation, except when engaged in any of the operations in  71
intrastate commerce described in divisions (B)(1) to (9) of  72
section 4921.01 of the Revised Code, but including the carrier's  73
H. B. No. 265  Page 4
As Introduced
agents, officers, and representatives, as well as employees  74
responsible for hiring, supervising, training, assigning, or  75
dispatching drivers and employees concerned with the  76
installation, inspection, and maintenance of motor-vehicle  77
equipment and accessories;  78
       (C) An electric light company, when engaged in the  79
business of supplying electricity for light, heat, or power  80
purposes to consumers within this state, including supplying  81
electric transmission service for electricity delivered to  82
consumers in this state, but excluding a regional transmission  83
organization approved by the federal energy regulatory  84
commission;  85
       (D) A gas company, when engaged in the business of  86
supplying artificial gas for lighting, power, or heating  87
purposes to consumers within this state or when engaged in the  88
business of supplying artificial gas to gas companies or to  89
natural gas companies within this state, but a producer engaged  90
in supplying to one or more gas or natural gas companies, only  91
such artificial gas as is manufactured by that producer as a by-  92
product of some other process in which the producer is primarily  93
engaged within this state is not thereby a gas company. All  94
rates, rentals, tolls, schedules, charges of any kind, or  95
agreements between any gas company and any other gas company or  96
any natural gas company providing for the supplying of  97
artificial gas and for compensation for the same are subject to  98
the jurisdiction of the public utilities commission.  99
       (E) A natural gas company, when engaged in the business of  100
supplying natural gas for lighting, power, or heating purposes  101
to consumers within this state. Notwithstanding the above,  102
neither the delivery nor sale of Ohio-produced natural gas or  103
H. B. No. 265  Page 5
As Introduced
Ohio-produced raw natural gas liquids by a producer or gatherer  104
under a public utilities commission-ordered exemption, adopted  105
before, as to producers, or after, as to producers or gatherers,  106
January 1, 1996, or the delivery or sale of Ohio-produced  107
natural gas or Ohio-produced raw natural gas liquids by a  108
producer or gatherer of Ohio-produced natural gas or Ohio-  109
produced raw natural gas liquids, either to a lessor under an  110
oil and gas lease of the land on which the producer's drilling  111
unit is located, or the grantor incident to a right-of-way or  112
easement to the producer or gatherer, shall cause the producer  113
or gatherer to be a natural gas company for the purposes of this  114
section.  115
       All rates, rentals, tolls, schedules, charges of any kind,  116
or agreements between a natural gas company and other natural  117
gas companies or gas companies providing for the supply of  118
natural gas and for compensation for the same are subject to the  119
jurisdiction of the public utilities commission. The commission,  120
upon application made to it, may relieve any producer or  121
gatherer of natural gas, defined in this section as a gas  122
company or a natural gas company, of compliance with the  123
obligations imposed by this chapter and Chapters 4901., 4903.,  124
4907., 4909., 4921., and 4923. of the Revised Code, so long as  125
the producer or gatherer is not affiliated with or under the  126
control of a gas company or a natural gas company engaged in the  127
transportation or distribution of natural gas, or so long as the  128
producer or gatherer does not engage in the distribution of  129
natural gas to consumers.  130
       Nothing in division (E) of this section limits the  131
authority of the commission to enforce sections 4905.90 to  132
4905.96 of the Revised Code.  133
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As Introduced
       (F) A pipe-line company, when engaged in the business of  134
transporting natural gas, oil, or coal or its derivatives  135
through pipes or tubing, either wholly or partly within this  136
state, but not when engaged in the business of the transport  137
associated with gathering lines, raw natural gas liquids, or  138
finished product natural gas liquids;  139
       (G) A water-works company, when engaged in the business of  140
supplying water through pipes or tubing, or in a similar manner,  141
to consumers within this state;  142
       (H) A heating or cooling company, when engaged in the  143
business of supplying water, steam, or air through pipes or  144
tubing to consumers within this state for heating or cooling  145
purposes;  146
       (I) A messenger company, when engaged in the business of  147
supplying messengers for any purpose;  148
       (J) A street railway company, when engaged in the business  149
of operating as a common carrier, a railway, wholly or partly  150
within this state, with one or more tracks upon, along, above,  151
or below any public road, street, alleyway, or ground, within  152
any municipal corporation, operated by any motive power other  153
than steam and not a part of an interurban railroad, whether the  154
railway is termed street, inclined-plane, elevated, or  155
underground railway;  156
       (K) A suburban railroad company, when engaged in the  157
business of operating as a common carrier, whether wholly or  158
partially within this state, a part of a street railway  159
constructed or extended beyond the limits of a municipal  160
corporation, and not a part of an interurban railroad;  161
       (L) An interurban railroad company, when engaged in the  162
H. B. No. 265  Page 7
As Introduced
business of operating a railroad, wholly or partially within  163
this state, with one or more tracks from one municipal  164
corporation or point in this state to another municipal  165
corporation or point in this state, whether constructed upon the  166
public highways or upon private rights-of-way, outside of  167
municipal corporations, using electricity or other motive power  168
than steam power for the transportation of passengers, packages,  169
express matter, United States mail, baggage, and freight. Such  170
an interurban railroad company is included in the term  171
"railroad" as used in section 4907.02 of the Revised Code.  172
       (M) A sewage disposal system company, when engaged in the  173
business of sewage disposal services through pipes or tubing,  174
and treatment works, or in a similar manner, within this state.  175
       (N) A submetering company, when engaged in the business of  176
reselling or redistributing, either on behalf of the property  177
owner, or as a third-party provider serving the property owner,  178
utility service consisting of electric, gas, sewer, sewage  179
disposal, or water service otherwise provided by one of the  180
following, in which consumption to end-user consumers is  181
measured by submeters installed at individual service points  182
within a building or facility:  183
       (1) A public utility regulated under this chapter;  184
       (2) A public utility, other than a telephone company, that  185
is owned and operated exclusively by and solely for the  186
utility's customers, including any consumer or group of  187
consumers purchasing, delivering, storing, or transporting, or  188
seeking to purchase, deliver, store, or transport, natural gas  189
exclusively by and solely for the consumer's or consumers' own  190
intended use as the end user or end users and not for profit;  191
H. B. No. 265  Page 8
As Introduced
        (3) A public utility that is owned or operated by any  192
municipal corporation.  193
        As used in division (E) of this section, "natural gas"  194
includes natural gas that has been processed to enable  195
consumption or to meet gas quality standards or that has been  196
blended with propane, hydrogen, biologically derived methane  197
gas, or any other artificially produced or processed gas.  198
        As used in this section, "gathering lines" has the same  199
meaning as in section 4905.90 of the Revised Code, and "raw  200
natural gas liquids" and "finished product natural gas liquids"  201
have the same meanings as in section 4906.01 of the Revised  202
Code.  203
        Section 2. That existing sections 4905.02 and 4905.03 of  204
the Revised Code are hereby repealed.  205