House Bill 6 supporters are circulating a non-binding petition asking lawmakers to prohibit foreign ownership of Ohio power plants. Opponents seeking to repeal the law at the ballot next year call the move "dirty tricks."

In what a critic of House Bill 6 labels "dirty tricks," supporters of the nuclear power plant bailout legislation are circulating non-binding petition forms calling on Ohio lawmakers to "stop foreign ownership of our electric grid."

At least two people seeking signatures Monday on the campus of Columbus State Community College bore petitions labeled with the disclaimer: "Paid for by Ohioans for Energy Security."

The dark-money group is investing millions of dollars in a TV and mail campaign in an attempt to thwart a drive to gain signatures on a referendum petition to reverse a pending state law that would give FirstEnergy Solutions about $1 billion to subsidize its pair of nuclear power plants.

Carlo LoParo, spokesman for Ohioans for Energy Security, said the group began seeking signatures on the petition across the state on Monday. "It is a grass-roots effort to show voter support for prohibiting foreign ownership of power plants," he said.

The group feels "very strongly" that foreign interests should not be involved in Ohio electricity generation, LoParo said.

The petition asks lawmakers to amend state law to prevent foreign governments and interests from owning, operating or controlling Ohio power plants. The forms are non-binding and would not lead to any public vote or force a legislative vote. No such bill has been introduced in the legislature.

Ohioans for Energy Security are suggesting, without proof, in advertisements that the Chinese government is buying and taking over Ohio's power grid and wants to close the nuclear plants. The group points to Chinese bank loans to some natural-gas burning power plants. FirstEnergy Corp. also has loans from that Chinese bank.

Gene Pierce, spokesman for Ohioans Against Corporate Bailouts, said, "These petitions are another example of the dirty tricks that the House Bill 6 defenders will do to mislead the public."

"Having two petitions in the field on the same general topic makes it confusing to average voters," Pierce said.

LoParo said circulators of his group's petitions have been instructed not to gather signatures in the same places being worked by those seeking signatures on the referendum effort.

Ohioans Against Corporate Bailouts needs to obtain the valid signatures of 265,774 registered Ohio voters by Oct. 21 to place a referendum before voters on the November 2020 ballot. If the referendum is certified to the ballot, it would delay the implementation of the law until the vote.

Signed into law by Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, House Bill 6 will impose an 85-cent monthly charge on most residential electricity bills to generate $150 million a year to subsidize the Lake Erie plants owned by FirstEnergy Solutions. The bankrupt company threatened to close the plants without a subsidy, and will shut them down if the referendum qualifies for the ballot, a spokesman has said.

rludlow@dispatch.com

@RandyLudlow