Yearly Archives: 2024

Coal plants running up huge losses in 2024
2024-06-28
Coal-fired power plants lost more than $1.2 billion in January and February, a study by the research institute RMI shows, another sign of the high cost of the fuel compared to others, particularly wind and solar. Three of the biggest losers were the two plants owned by Ohio Valley Electric Corp. (OVEC) and Indiana Michigan… Read more »
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Stonewalling public disclosure, a PUCO tradition, continues
2024-06-5
The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio continues to stonewall requests for the names of staff members who recommended a protective order that hid key details of its audit into the state’s corrupt HB 6 law. PUCO lawyers continue to claim they have no records about the staff’s recommendation to grant the order issued last July…. Read more »
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Unlike Ohio’s PUCO, Michigan PSC no pushover on protective orders
2024-05-12
Not only did the Michigan regulators go beyond the timid Public Utilities Commission of Ohio in pulling back higher electricity prices charged by the Ohio Valley Electric Corp., they limited the amount of information covered by protective orders. Checks & Balances Project has revealed how PUCO staffers gave the utilities that share ownership of OVEC… Read more »
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Michigan losing patience with Rockport plant’s excessive costs
2024-04-19
The days of Indiana Michigan Power overcharging for electricity produced by its Rockport power plant may be ending, as Michigan regulators have rejected more than $10 million in costs the company tried to pass on to consumers. “The Commission found that the costs of energy generated by the Rockport plant were well above other long-term… Read more »
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Michigan rejects OVEC costs while Ohio remains inactive
2024-04-15
Michigan regulators have disallowed $1,025,628 in excess charges for electricity from the coal-fired power plants owned by the Ohio Valley Electric Corp., a dramatic contrast with Ohio regulators paralyzed by the corrupt HB 6 law. On April 11, the Michigan Public Service Commission disallowed the costs Indiana & Michigan Power (I&M) sought to recover for… Read more »
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Anti-solar activists show dismay about Frasier Solar testimony
2024-04-5
Anti-solar activists used to spreading disinformation to supportive audiences expressed dismay Thursday as solar supporters presented their case for the 800-acre Frasier project in Knox County, Ohio. “For the first hour and a half there was literally 1 opponent- Barry Lester,” one commenter on the Knox Smart Development Facebook page said. “How did this happen?… Read more »
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Self-committing electricity drives up costs for consumers, report shows
2024-04-2
Electricity customers paid $10 billion in excess electricity costs between 2016 and 2022 because utilities sent expensive coal-generated power to the grid and crowded out cheaper alternatives, a new report released Tuesday shows. These higher costs, consulting firm RMI reported, meant that some electricity customers sacrificed other essentials to pay for power. “One way we… Read more »
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Latest Ohio indictment ties Householder with other HB 6 conspirators
2024-03-26
By indicting former Ohio House speaker Larry Householder on 10 counts of corruption, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has closed the circle around the four men most responsible for the HB 6 scandal. In February, Yost indicted the two FirstEnergy officials — Chuck Jones and Michael Dowling — and former Public Utilities Commission of Ohio… Read more »
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Shadow of gas industry hovered over anti-solar rally
2024-03-6
To hear anti-renewable energy pundit Robert Bryce tell it, the fight over a proposed solar project in Knox County, Ohio, is between “big banks, big law firms and big NGOs” trying to steamroll plucky residents in rural America despised by urban elites. Except in this case, rural America is represented by the Ariel Corp., the… Read more »
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Will end of HB 6 stays awake sleeping PUCO watchdog?
2024-02-27
The unfreezing of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio’s investigations into HB 6 gives the beleaguered agency a chance to demonstrate independence from the utilities that saddled ratepayers with unfair and higher electric bills. PUCO issued its first stay of its HB 6 investigations on Aug. 24, 2022, two years after the indictments of former… Read more »
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