OH SB151

Competitive retail natural gas suppliers may establish voluntary carbon offset programs allowing customers to purchase offsets representing one metric ton of greenhouse gas removed from the atmosphere through methods like forest management, methane capture, or energy efficiency improvements

Suppliers must partner with nationally recognized carbon offset registries that provide project identification, serial numbers for credits, ownership tracking, and status verification systems before launching a program

Suppliers must submit notice to the Public Utilities Commission including registry agreements, descriptions of offset types offered, and procedures to prevent double counting (selling the same offset to multiple customers)

Program costs cannot be passed to natural gas distribution companies or customers who do not participate in the voluntary program

The Public Utilities Commission may audit supplier programs at its discretion to verify offsets are applied correctly and non-participants are not charged program costs