The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio has practically been a case study on “regulatory capture,” the condition of an oversight body ostensibly serving the public that has become a government agency devoted to the interests of the industry and companies it regulates.

That’s why a common-sense decision by PUCO regarding utility access and control of the audit process used as the basis for utility rate rulings is such a big deal.

The PUCO has changed policy, following the call by the Office of Consumers Counsel no less, the state agency that Republicans have tried to starve through the budget process since former Gov. John Kasich.

Instead of giving the draft audit to utilities and allowing them to make suggested edits that have been suspiciously consistently used in the final document, t

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