FirstEnergy Corp. told the Ohio state government the company should not have to refund $30 million collected from Ohio ratepayers under scandal-tainted legislation passed in 2019 to support two financially struggling nuclear reactors.
FirstEnergy says it should be able to keep the money because the law, which guarantees the company a profit of $102 million annually, is still on the books, according to a March 15 filing with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO). The Ohio Consumers Council, another state agency, asked PUCO on March 3 to force FirstEnergy to return money already collected this year.
In 2019, as part of an alleged quid-pro-quo between FirstEnergy and former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder (R) — whose constituents re-elected him in November — the Ohio General Assembly passed House House Bill 6, which provides a $150 million annual bailout to the Davis-Besse and Perry power plants, operated by former FirstEnergy subsidiary Energy Harbor, starting Jan. 1, 2021.
The bailout was to be paid with an $0.85 monthly increase in the electric bill for each Ohio residential utility customer, regardless of whether that home is a FirstEnergy customer, but was put on hold as the Ohio General Assembly considers a bill to repeal HB 6.
House Bill 6 also guarantees FirstEnergy a $102 million annual profit, regardless of actual electrical consumption in Ohio, via what is commonly known as decoupling. The $102 million was based on FirstEnergy’s most profitable year, 2018.
On March 4, the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel — a state agency representing the interests of utility customers — asked the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) to order FirstEnergy to refund $30 million of that $102 million in guaranteed 2021 profits back to ithe company’s customers.
FirstEnergy says existing regulations do not support the consumers counsel’s request.
PUCO had not responded to the latest filings at deadline for Weapons Complex Morning Briefing.
