Ohio Rev. Code » Chapter 4909
Ohio Revised Code

Ohio Rev. Code § 4909.19 (2026)

Publication of notice - investigation

✓ current as of May 2026
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Effective:
August 14, 2025
Latest Legislation:
House Bill 15 - 136th General Assembly
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(A) Upon the filing of any application for increase provided for by section 4909.18 of the Revised Code the public utility shall forthwith publish notice of such application, in a form approved by the public utilities commission, once a week for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper published and in general circulation throughout the territory in which such public utility operates and directly affected by the matters referred to in said application. The notice shall include instructions for direct electronic access to the application or other documents on file with the public utilities commission. The first publication of the notice shall be made in its entirety and may be made in a preprinted insert in the newspaper. The second publication may be abbreviated if all of the following apply:

(1) The abbreviated notice is at least one-fourth of the size of the notice in the first publication.

(2) At the same time the abbreviated notice is published, the notice in the first publication is posted in its entirety on the newspaper's web site, if the newspaper has a web site, and the commission's web site.

(3) The abbreviated notice contains a statement of the web site posting or postings, as applicable, and instructions for accessing the posting or postings.

(B) The commission shall determine a format for the content of all notices required under this section, and shall consider costs and technological efficiencies in making that determination. Defects in the publication of said notice shall not affect the legality or sufficiency of notices published under this section provided that the commission has substantially complied with this section, as described in section 4905.09 of the Revised Code.

(C) The commission shall at once cause an investigation to be made of the facts set forth in said application and the exhibits attached thereto, and of the matters connected therewith. Within one hundred eighty days after the application is determined to be complete, a written report shall be made and filed with the commission, a copy of which shall be sent by certified mail to the applicant, the mayor of any municipal corporation affected by the application, and to such other persons as the commission deems interested. If no objection to such report is made by any party interested within thirty days after such filing and the mailing of copies thereof, the commission shall fix a date within ten days for the final hearing upon said application, giving notice thereof to all parties interested. At such hearing the commission shall consider the matters set forth in said application and make such order respecting the prayer thereof as to it seems just and reasonable.

If objections are filed with the commission, the commission shall cause a pre-hearing conference to be held between all parties, intervenors, and the commission staff in all cases involving more than one hundred thousand customers.

If objections are filed with the commission within thirty days after the filing of such report, the application shall be promptly set down for hearing of testimony before the commission or be forthwith referred to an attorney examiner designated by the commission to take all the testimony with respect to the application and objections which may be offered by any interested party. The commission shall also fix the time and place to take testimony giving ten days' written notice of such time and place to all parties. The taking of testimony shall commence on the date fixed in said notice and shall continue from day to day until completed. The attorney examiner may, upon good cause shown, grant continuances for not more than three days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays. The commission may grant continuances for a longer period than three days upon its order for good cause shown. At any hearing involving rates or charges sought to be increased, the burden of proof to show that the increased rates or charges are just and reasonable shall be on the public utility.

When the taking of testimony is completed, a full and complete record of such testimony noting all objections made and exceptions taken by any party or counsel, shall be made, signed by the attorney examiner, and filed with the commission. Prior to the formal consideration of the application by the commission and the rendition of any order respecting the prayer of the application, a quorum of the commission shall consider the recommended opinion and order of the attorney examiner, in an open, formal, public proceeding in which an overview and explanation is presented orally. Thereafter, the commission shall make such order respecting the prayer of such application as seems just and reasonable to it.

In all proceedings before the commission in which the taking of testimony is required, except when heard by the commission, attorney examiners shall be assigned by the commission to take such testimony and fix the time and place therefor, and such testimony shall be taken in the manner prescribed in this section. All testimony shall be under oath or affirmation and taken down and transcribed by a reporter and made a part of the record in the case. The commission may hear the testimony or any part thereof in any case without having the same referred to an attorney examiner and may take additional testimony. Testimony shall be taken and a record made in accordance with such general rules as the commission prescribes and subject to such special instructions in any proceedings as it, by order, directs.

Last updated May 22, 2025 at 12:36 PM

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 32 cases (2 in the last 5 years), 1954–2026 · leading case: Ohio Consumers' Couns. v. Pub. Utils. Comm'n, 2010 Ohio 6239 (Ohio 2010).
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Ohio Consumers' Couns. v. Pub. Utils. Comm'n, 2010 Ohio 6239 (Ohio 2010). · cites it 14× “{¶ 44} n my view, the notice published by Vectren did not comply with R.C. 4909.19. That statute requires that a utility seeking a rate increase publish in Ohio newspapers a notice that conveys “the substance and prayer” of its proposal.”
Ohio Consumers' Couns. v. Pub. Utils. Comm'n, 2010 Ohio 134 (Ohio 2010). · cites it 6× “{¶ 63} OCC correctly notes that R.C. 4909.19 requires a public utility applying for a rate increase to provide public notice in a newspaper in general circulation throughout the areas affected by the rate increase that fully discloses “the substance and prayer of such…”
Franklin Cnty. Welfare Rights Org. v. Pub. Utils. Comm'n, 377 N.E.2d 990 (Ohio 1978). · cites it 6× “However, in any order entered pursuant to section 4909.19 of the Revised Code, the commission shall authorize a rate of return that is just and reasonable.”
At&T Commc'ns of Ohio, Inc. v. Pub. Utils. Comm'n, 555 N.E.2d 288 (Ohio 1990). · cites it 4× “CEI, on the other hand, argued that it had not placed this change in tariffs in issue in the application and that it should not have the burden to support it.”
Ohio Edison Co. v. Pub. Utils. Comm'n, 589 N.E.2d 1292 (Ohio 1992). · cites it 2× “19 charges the commission with the duty to investigate “the facts set forth in [the company’s rate] application and the exhibits attached thereto * * The company’s attempt to supplement its application with this additional plant after the issuance of the staff report and its…”
State ex rel. Columbus S. Power Co. v. Sheward, 585 N.E.2d 380 (Ohio 1992). · cites it 2× “42 provides in pertinent part that when the commission fails to respond to a request for a rate increase “pursuant to section 4909.19 of the Revised Code at the expiration of two hundred seventy-five days from the date of filing the application, the proposed increase shall go…”
Cleveland Elec. Illuminating Co. v. Pub. Utils. Comm'n, 330 N.E.2d 1 (Ohio 1975). · cites it 2× “” In its opinion and order, the Commission stated that its “* * * staff is mandated by Section 4909.19, Revised Code, to conduct an investigation encompassing not only the application and the exhibits attached thereto, but also, ‘of all matters connected therewith.”
Cincinnati Bell Tel. Co. v. Pub. Utils. Comm'n, 466 N.E.2d 848 (Ohio 1984). · cites it 2× “Pursuant to R.C. 4909.19, any party having objections to the commission’s staff report must file these objections within thirty days of its release.”
Ohio Consumers' Couns. v. Pub. Utils. Comm'n, 111 Ohio St. 3d 300 (Ohio 2006). “The notice, investigation, and hearing requirements of R.C. 4909.19 are not triggered because they apply only upon application for a rate increase pursuant to R.”
Ohio Bell Tel. Co. v. Pub. Utils. Comm'n, 245 N.E.2d 351 (Ohio 1969). · cites it 4× “) Section 4909.19, Revised Code is confined by its language to applications for increases in rates and details the procedure to be followed in such eases.”
City of Akron v. Pub. Utils. Comm'n, 215 N.E.2d 366 (Ohio 1966). · cites it 2× “The staff report, prepared as required by Section 4909.19, Revised Code, was competent evidence in this cause.”
Time Warner AxS v. Pub. Utils. Comm'n, 75 Ohio St. 3d 229 (Ohio 1996). “However, if the application seeks a rate increase or if the commission finds the proposed decrease unreasonable, then the commission must hold a hearing and the investigation and notice provisions of R.C. 4909.19 apply. R.C. 4909.18; 4909.19.”
Show all 32 citing cases →
— Ohio Rev. Code § 4909.19(C) — 1 case
In re Application of Suburban Nat. Gas Co. (Slip Opinion), 2021 Ohio 3224 (Ohio 2021).
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