Approving a governor’s appointee is usually a formality for the Ohio Senate. But the chamber’s leader says he has concerns about a Democratic lawyer from Columbus who is Gov. John Kasich’s pick for the panel that regulates electric utilities in Ohio.
Republican Senate President Keith Faber says he wants to hold fact-finding hearings on energy lawyer Howard Petricoff. Faber says it’s one thing to be an advocate for issues, but he says he’s concerned about Petricoff being an activist for certain causes.
“Certainly we want somebody on that group that’s going to be a neutral judge not somebody who’s already planted a flag for one of the sides,” he said.
Faber wouldn’t name specific examples but Petricoff has represented natural gas companies in several PUCO cases, and was also recently involved in the controversial rate cases FirstEnergy and AEP brought involving their costly coal plants.
