Ohio Consumers’ Counsel Janine Migden-Ostrander resigned Wednesday as the state’s top watchdog for utility customers.
Migden-Ostrander, 58, who served seven years and was the agency’s third leader, said drastic budget cuts by the state made it difficult to do her job. She said she was proud of work that saved consumers more than $8 billion, but the “blatant disregard” shown by the legislature earlier this year in slashing her budget was unfair.
“Last January, the governor [John R. Kasich] said to ‘get on the bus or get run over.’ The doors were locked to the OCC and the 4.5 million consumers we represent,” Migden-Ostrander said during a news conference Wednesday morning.
“I do not want to get on that bus,” said Migden-Ostrander, whose resignation is effective Oct. 15. “The bus is running over consumers and has no brakes.”
Migden-Ostrander has accepted a position as principal consultant with the Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP), a global, nonprofit organization that works on long-term electric and natural gas issues and assists government officials.
Deputy Consumers’ Counsel and Legal Director Bruce Weston, who has been in that position since 2004, was named interim Consumers’ Counsel. Migden-Ostrander said she had confidence in Weston.
Migden-Ostrander said she loved her job and didn’t want to leave. “But for the attack on the OCC, I would have not sought to move on,” she said.
Migden-Ostrander said during the state budget process she was unable to have direct conversations with Kasich or House Speaker William Batchelder after multiple requests.
John Moliterno, who was the OCC Governing Board vice chair until being elected chair on Wednesday, said Migden-Ostrander will be difficult to replace.
Moliterno was elected chair after the current board chair Jerome Solove and another longtime board member, Dorothy Leslie, both Republicans, recently were not reappointed by Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine.
“Janine’s outstanding performance is evident in the billions of dollars saved for Ohioans under her leadership and collaboration,” Moliterno said.
As of July 1, the agency, which participates in cases before the Public Utilities Commission, had its 2011-12 budget reduced from $8.5 million to $5.6 million and to $4.1 million in the second year. The agency has laid off 30 people — 42 percent of her staff — and left 10 other positions unfilled.
Charles Acquard, executive director of the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates, in which Migden-Ostrander was active, said it was a shame that she was leaving and that her agency had been attacked by politicians.
“It seems counterproductive to me. One of the ways you get businesses and industry to move into a state is to have reasonable electricity rates and that’s what Janine was fighting for and that’s what the OCC does,” he said. “You get rid of her and you gut that agency. It doesn’t seem you’re going to reach that goal.”
Sandy Buchanan, executive director of the environmental group Ohio Citizen Action, called Migden-Ostrander a fierce advocate for utility consumers.
It was fitting, Buchanan said, that Migden-Ostrander resigned on the day Kasich convened a conference called the 21st Century Energy and Economic Summit, where Buchanan said the ideas would be from the 1950s.
“The Governor’s actions, launched when he slashed the funding and powers of the Consumers’ Counsel, have ensured that the protectors of the status quo in the utility industry won’t have to hear from Migden-Ostrander anymore,” Buchanan said.
Kasich spokesman Rob Nichols said “the governor wishes her well.” A press secretary for Batchelder did not return a phone message.
Betty Lin-Fisher can be reached at 330-996-3724 or blinfisher@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow Betty on Twitter at www.twitter.com/blinfisher and see all her stories at www.ohio.com/betty .