When the Ohio Manufacturers' Association and the Ohio Office of Consumers' Counsel are jointly appalled by pending legislation, voters – and Ohio electric utility ratepayers – must take notice.

So it is with Substitute Senate Bill 58, sponsored by Sen. William G. Seitz, a Cincinnati Republican, which appears to be one of the sweetest deals imaginable for Ohio's electric utilities – but not for Ohio consumers.

Ostensibly, the bill initially aimed to revise the Ohio renewable-energy and energy-efficiency standards set in 2008 by a virtually unanimous General Assembly. (Seitz was among the yesses.) Whatever the bill was intended to be, it's now a piñata for the Statehouse's electric utility lobby.

Despite changes Seitz made after criticism rained down on the original bill, the measure "is still a huge electric utility giveaway," Eric Burkland, president of the Manufacturers' Association, said in a statement Tuesday.

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Likewise, Bruce Weston, Ohio’s Consumers’ Counsel, who represents the state’s residential utility consumers, said the Seitz bill is bad news for ratepayers. “Even with the latest proposed changes, Senate Bill 58 would lead to higher electricity bills for Ohio residents and businesses,” he said.

According to Weston’s spokesman, Marty Berkowitz, “If the utilities succeed … 4 million Ohio households could pay an additional $528 for their electric bills over the course of the utilities’ three-year energy efficiency plans.” According to federal data, Berkowitz said, “33 states have electricity prices that, on average, are lower than electricity prices for residential consumers in Ohio. … This legislation will hurt, not help.”

Seitz’s bill is pending in the Senate’s Public Utilities Committee which, conveniently, Seitz happens to chair. Senate Republican leaders may be tempted to try rushing the Seitz bill through the Senate and into the House during the Thanksgiving-Christmas blur. That would demonstrate contempt for hard-pressed Ohio consumers. It would also be an admission that the bill wouldn’t withstand thorough debate. Given that next year is an election year, even the Statehouse’s trained seals might break ranks.

Considering the costs Seitz’s bill would impose on Ohio consumers, Senate President Keith Faber, a western Ohio Republican, needs to call a timeout – now.