COLUMBUS, OH — Americans for Prosperity–Ohio (AFP-OH) today congratulated The Buckeye Institute on being named one of six global finalists for Atlas Network’s 2026 Templeton Freedom Award, recognition earned for research that helped end the utility subsidies Ohio families had been paying through mandatory charges on their electric bills since 2019.
AFP-OH State Director Donovan O’Neil released the following statement:
“We’d like to extend our congratulations to The Buckeye Institute on being named a finalist for the Templeton Freedom Award. Ohio families spent years paying for power plants that couldn’t compete, through charges buried in their utility bills. Buckeye kept making the case that no energy source should get a handout and that customers deserve to know what they’re being charged for, and House Bill 15 turned that case into law.
“We’ve been proud to work alongside Buckeye on this and many other fights for Ohioans. This recognition is well earned.”
House Bill 6, passed in 2019, forced Ohio ratepayers to prop up power plants that couldn’t compete, and it became the center of the largest public corruption scandal in state history. The Buckeye Institute spent years documenting what those subsidies cost and arguing that no energy source should get special treatment. House Bill 15, signed in 2025, adopted much of that agenda, repealing subsidies projected to cost Ohioans $582 million over four years, speeding permits for new generation, and cutting taxes on energy infrastructure. Roughly $4 billion in private investment and nearly 2,000 megawatts of new capacity have since been announced or entered Ohio’s regulatory process.
Repealing those subsidies has been a plank of the Buckeye Blueprint, AFP–OH’s grassroots campaign organizing volunteers and coalition partners in all 88 counties. Its Repeal OVEC Subsidies petition brought Ohioans into a fight argued mostly in regulatory filings until then, noting that the two subsidized facilities were costing ratepayers roughly $450,000 a day. Buckeye’s research gave that pressure something solid to stand on, and lawmakers heard both.
For more on AFP–OH’s policy agenda, visit buckeyeblueprint.com.
For more on the Templeton Freedom Award, read here.
