By John Stang
Legislation intended to help FirstEnergy Solutions (FES) keep two nuclear power plants financially afloat is in the late stages of consideration by the Ohio General Assembly.
At the same time, FES has asked the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to approve transfers of the licenses for its Ohio and Pennsylvania facilities to a newly formed entity as part of its emergence from bankruptcy.
FirstEnergy Solutions and several corporate siblings filed for federal bankruptcy protection on March 31, 2018 — days after the company announced it would shut down four reactors in the two states because they cannot economically compete with power generated by natural gas. The companies are trying to separate themselves from parent FirstEnergy Corp., of Akron, Ohio, which is not part of the bankruptcy proceedings.
In Ohio, the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station in Oak Harbor is set to close in May 2020, followed by the Perry Nuclear Power Plant in Perry in May 2021. In Pennsylvania, the two reactors at the Beaver Valley plant are due to close in May and October 2021
FirstEnergy Solutions has sought assistance from federal and state governments to sustain the nuclear operations. State legislation was filed this year in Ohio and Pennsylvania to help prop up all three plants. Pleas to the Trump administration have not resulted in any concrete proposals being made public.
FirstEnergy Solutions has had its best luck in Ohio.
On Wednesday, state senators amended an Ohio House bill that would charge all Ohio residential electric customers $0.80 per month to help the nuclear plants, beginning next year. Business and industrial ratepayers would pay more: respectively $11 and $240-$2,400, on average, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. This is estimated to raise $150 million for FES in the first year after passage.
“All ratepayers in Ohio will share the cost of the nuclear relief,” state Sen. Steve Wilson (R) told the Enquirer.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported FES says it cannot reveal how much money it is losing — relating to the bankruptcy — to lawmakers or the public. Company spokesman Tom Becker told the newspaper: “The company has provided all relevant information and testified to the [Ohio] General Assembly to its fullest extent regarding the unprofitability of the Ohio nuclear facilities. The company is operating under several non-disclosure agreements as part of the bankruptcy and is precluded from disclosing non-public information.”
Consequently, the proposed rate increases are based on industrial averages and formulas, instead of specific figures from FES, the newspaper reported.
FirstEnergy Solutions has been pressuring the Ohio House and Senate to pass the amended bill by Sunday, which the company has said is the date when it needs to decide whether to order $52 million worth of reactor fuel or to continue preparations to close the plants, the Plain Dealer reported.
Ohio Senate President Larry Obhof (R) told the Plain Dealer that the Senate won’t be forced to a premature vote by a date set by FES. House Speaker Larry Householder (R) indicated the House is aiming for a vote by Sunday.
According to insidesources.com, FirstEnergy has spent $3 million to several lobbying and public relations firms to support the bill, including writing testimony for the plants’ employees and other local stakeholders. FirstEnergy has donated to $124,000 to Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s campaign war chest and another $200,000 to Householder and other Ohio House candidates who supported his speakership, insidesources.com reported.
In Pennsylvania, the state Senate adjourned in May without finalizing a roughly $500 million nuclear bailout appropriations package.
Meanwhile, the NRC said in a Federal Register notice Thursday that FES and several affiliated companies have applied for authorization to transfer the licenses for the Ohio and Pennsylvania plants to new entities that would be formed following the bankruptcy. The transfer would cover the licenses for the four reactors and the sites’ spent fuel storage pads.
A new holding company would be created, along with reorganized forms of FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Co. (FENOC), which operates the facilities, and FirstEnergy Nuclear Generation (FENGen), their official owner. Those new entities would retain their missions under the reorganization. None of the new companies would have any relationship to FirstEnergy or FirstEnergy Solutions.
The comment period for the license transfer application is open, with input due by July 26. A request for a hearing must be filed by July 16.
For information, people can go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2019-0137. Address questions about NRC dockets to Jennifer Borges; telephone 301-287-9127; e-mail: [email protected].
E-mail comments should go to [email protected]. Faxed comments should go to Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission at 301-415-1101. Mailed comments should go to Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, ATTN: Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff.
