By John Stang
FirstEnergy Solutions is backing a new lobbying group that aims to prevent the closure of the company’s two nuclear power plants in Ohio.
The Ohio Clean Energy Jobs Alliance is a coalition of local -level government, business, and labor leaders who plan to lobby the Ohio state government to help keep FirstEnergy’s Davis-Besse plant in Oak Harbor and Perry facility in Perry from closing by late 2021.
“The alliance is asking for our elected representatives and leaders in Columbus to take measures to protect these nuclear plants and the clean energy and economic benefits that they provide to the state, with minimal impact to consumers,” alliance spokesman Carlo LoParo said by email.
The Ohio General Assembly is not in session, but will return to Columbus in 2019.
“The alliance will be encouraging the state of Ohio to take action to save these plants. We do not have a specific piece of legislation that we are supporting yet, but we would like to see our elected leaders do their part to protect the jobs, economic and environmental benefits associated with the Davis-Besse and Perry nuclear plants,” LoParo said.
New York state and Illinois have already enacted assistance efforts to sustain struggling nuclear power plants, emphasizing their economic and zero-emission benefits. Both programs have so far survived legal challenges.
FirstEnergy Solutions announced in March that, without some form of financial assistance, it would close three nuclear plants that could no longer compete against natural gas as a power source: Davis-Besse, Perry, and the Beaver Valley Power Station in Shippingport, Pa. Three days later, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
So far, the alliance has not targeted any help for the two reactors at the western Pennsylvania site. And it has not publicly discussed approaching the federal government for help.
The alliance includes 19 public officials from the areas around the two Ohio reactors, including the mayor of Akron and the county commissioners from Lake and Ottawa countries. Twenty-two union leaders and 12 businesses and economic development organizations have also signed on to the organization.
The organization has emphasized the jobs, economic benefits, and clean energy provided by the power plants.
“We are here to urge our elected leaders to take the necessary steps to save the Davis-Besse and Perry nuclear power stations,” said Lake County Commissioner Jerry Cirino in a news release. “Allowing these facilities to shut down will have a devastating economic impact on their local communities. The operation of Ohio’s nuclear stations contributes over $500 million annually to the state’s economy. Over 4,000 jobs are at stake.”
FirstEnergy Solutions is supporting the alliance, LoParo said without elaborating. No information was separately available on the form of that support.
The company earlier this year asked Energy Secretary Rick Perry to order a regional power clearinghouse to financially bolster FirstEnergy Solutions enough to keep its reactors and other power plants online. The Akron, Ohio, company wants the clearing house — PJM Interconnection — to sign contracts that guarantee FirstEnergy’s nuclear and coal plants can fully recover their costs along with a return on their investments. So far, nothing has publicly emerged from the Department of Energy.
Perry has pressed a plan to assist nuclear and coal-fueled power plants on national security grounds, but Politico reported this week that effort has ground to a halt at the White House.
FirstEnergy Solutions has said any federal help must be bolstered by assistance from the states of Ohio and Pennsylvania. In May, a bill to allow FirstEnergy Solutions to increase its rates to help the nuclear plants died in committee in the Ohio General Assembly. The Pennsylvania legislature never introduced a bill to help FirstEnergy’s plant in that state.
