Tuesday August 30, 2016

Long summer days are dwindling, but there seems to be no end in sight to FirstEnergy’s greed.

The utility giant still has multiple multi-billion-dollar requests before the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, including the unusual attempt to get paid for maintaining the FE HQ in Akron.

If you need to catch up on where we are and how we got here, as well as what left manufacturing, consumer, and environmental advocates “flabbergasted,” a recent Bloomberg article sums it up.

You can always visit EDF’s FirstEnergy website for our newsletter archive and links to the latest news about FirstEnergy’s bailout.

FirstEnergy’s Bottomless Bag of Tricks

FirstEnergy may be desperately clinging to old ways, but it’s coming up with new attempts to do so.

The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis just came out with a new report describing these attempts, titled “FirstEnergy Bailout Proposals Grow More Audacious, and Onerous, for Ohio Ratepayers.” The report breaks down FirstEnergy’s numerous requests – and the billions of dollars – at stake in Ohio. Check out the organization’s accompanying blog post for details on the “more obvious holes” of the bailout and how FirstEnergy is “making a mockery of traditional—and fair—utility regulation.”

Moreover, the utility “is disproving the notion that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. FirstEnergy has excelled lately at inventing new ways for customers to pay for bad management.” Bad dog.

Sunnier Skies for Ohio Clean Energy

When it comes to clean energy, FirstEnergy is swimming against the tide.

Amidst the utility’s efforts to protect its aging fossil fuel interests, Ohio solar energy appears to be skyrocketing. In fact, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer and a new report from Green Energy Ohio, solar energy systems grew by more than 23 percent in the past year alone. Plus, numerous large solar installations are already under construction, and many small businesses and homes are getting in the solar game.

Solar’s growth complements a shift away from coal-fired electricity. Upwards of 10,000 MW of old, dirty fossil-fuel generation has closed or is set to close in Ohio, more than any other state.

No doubt Ohio has a long way to go to fix its broken renewable policies. But in forecasting whether the state’s energy future lies with utility dinosaurs or cleaner electricity, momentum is not on FirstEnergy’s side.

Quote of the Week

As we’ve mentioned before, what happens in Ohio does not stay in Ohio, especially in the case of FirstEnergy’s bailout: The Buckeye State is part of a regional electricity market. PJM Interconnection is the grid operator for said market, which includes D.C. and all or portions of 13 states.

The Independent Market Monitor for PJM recently released the “State of the Market” report, which assesses the performance of PJM’s wholesale electric energy, capacity, and regulation markets. The report showed the first six months of 2016 were competitive, and “energy market prices decreased significantly from the first six months of 2015.” Win-win for competition and customers’ wallets.

The report also had some choice words regarding unnamed attempts to subsidize uneconomic power plants:

• “The subsidy model is inconsistent with the PJM market design and inconsistent with the market paradigm and constitutes a significant threat to both.”