Grid Operator to Weigh In on Reliability Claims
Ohio has a competitive retail electric market, meaning customers can buy electricity from many different sellers. As part of a larger, regional market, the grid operator – PJM Interconnection – oversees the grid and ensures electric reliability is maintained in the least-cost manner.
Until recently, FirstEnergy has embraced competition and even welcomed it when natural gas prices were higher. But now it’s asking the PUCO to disrupt the market and guarantee profits for its power plants – citing reliability as the main reason.
Enter PJM, which will be conducting a “we’ll be the judge of that” analysis to determine how the FirstEnergy and AEP proposals will affect the region’s wholesale electricity market. “Our hope is that this analysis can help to inform the public debate so that regulators and policymakers understand fully any trade-offs that may arise through the policies they may be considering,” said PJM General Counsel Vince Duane.
PJM’s input seems particularly apropos given Governor John Kasich’s recently-added two cents on the bailouts, in which he said his only concern is providing long-term, reliable electricity for Ohioans.
Although the analysis may arrive after the PUCO makes its decision, PJM’s involvement should be a tipoff that FirstEnergy’s and AEP’s reasoning is not as airtight as the utilities want us to believe.
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