For half a century, one Ohio agency has been fighting utility price battles

Electricity rates in Ohio spiked last year prompting the state's largest energy aggregator to dump its 550,000 customers. But NOPEC is back with a reduced rate after surviving an investigation by regulators.(Shutterstock / Shutterstock)An Ohio agency is celebrating a half a century of championing fair utility prices.The Office of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel is the only government agency whose sole mission is to advocate for consumers. In 1976, the state legislature created the counsel office to represent Ohioans in legal battles against utility companies.Agency director and counsel Maureen Willis said the office was founded at a time when utilities were frequently asking for rate increases and expenses were rising.“Even though the issues that we face have changed dramatically since 1976, we find that the client hasn’t,” Willis said. “We're representing residential utility consumers. Those are the people that ultimately pay the bill and have to figure out how to afford it.”Landmark case