Ohio Consumers' Counsel prepares for budget battle

[upstatecajun]

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Ohio Consumers' Counsel Janine Migden-Ostrander says she and her staff have saved consumers $54 million in the last two years by objecting to and paring down utility rate increases.

But Gov. John Kasich says the consumers' counsel duplicates a lot of what the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio already does. The commission regulates utility rates and services.

The governor wants to slash the consumers' counsel budget for next year in half, from $8.5 million to $4.1 million -- forcing heavy layoffs in a 76-member staff of an agency whose main job is to stand up against utilities.

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2011/03/ohio_consumers_counsel_prepares_for_budget_battle.html