Environmental groups call on Ohio regulator to audit coal subsidies in corrupt HB6 utility bailout
AEP last month argued for continuing the subsidies because coal was cheaper than natural gas for a time last year as prices for the latter spiked in response to disruptions caused by war in Ukraine. Those prices have sinceAs the state’s regulator, the PUCO is supposed to be protecting Ohio ratepayers, but it’s neglected at least part of that job even though it’s specifically required to by the corrupt bailout law.
It’s legal-speak, but HB 6 orders the PUCO to the evaluate the “prudence and reasonableness of the actions of electric distribution utilities with ownership interests in the legacy generation resource, including their decisions related to offering the contractual commitment into the wholesale markets, and exclude from recovery those costs that the commission determines imprudent and unreasonable.”
In other words, the law directs the PUCO to investigate whether the utilities owning the OVEC coal plants are ripping off ratepayers and take action if it finds they are. And the law lays out a schedule for such audits to take place. “The initial determination shall be made during 2021 regarding the prudence and reasonableness of such actions during calendar year 2020,” the law says. “The commission shall again make the determination in 2024, 2027, and 2030 regarding the prudence and reasonableness of such actions during the three calendar years that preceded the year in which the determination is made.”
Yet it’s 2023 and none of those audits has been done. The PUCO has said it paused all audits of FirstEnergy while the federal criminal investigation goes forward, but it’s“As utility bills are skyrocketing, customers are not aware of the extra charges that they are incurring, such as subsidies for coal — not even used for their own electricity,” Larry Bresler of Utilities for All said in written remarks provided by the Sierra Club.
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