american
State regulators to question AEP over Columbus blackouts today
State regulators will meet Wednesday to review American Electric Power’s decision to cut off electric service to 230,000 customers during a June heat wave to prevent a larger-scale blackout. A June 13 storm damaged three transmission lines — high voltage wires bringing energy from generating plants to transformers before it reaches customers — according to the […]
AEP cut 164,000 Ohioans’ power for nonpayment last year, more than any other utility
American Electric Power disconnected more of its customers for late bills than any other utility in the state last year, new regulatory filings show. Between June 2021 and May 2022, AEP Ohio disconnected nearly 164,000 customers from their electric service. That’s more than twice as many as its second place counterpart, FirstEnergy Corp., whose three […]
Gas, electric companies cut off 270,000 Ohioans amid pandemic and billions in profit
Seven gas and electric companies in Ohio shut off service due to nonpayment more than 270,000 times over one year during the pandemic as their corporate parents reported billions in profits, according to an analysis of regulatory and financial flings. After prohibiting gas and electric shutoffs for the early months of the pandemic, the Public […]
Mysterious nonprofit with AEP ties has $3 million to unload, tax records show
Under shadow of a public corruption probe centered on the utility industry and its use of untraceable political spending, a nonprofit with close ties to American Electric Power disclosed harboring $3 million in the bank that it could unload as statewide elections loom. Open Road Path — a nonprofit run by a lawyer and lobbyist […]
DeWine re-appoints former utility lawyer as utility regulator
Gov. Mike DeWine named attorney and incumbent utility regulator Dan Conway to renew his five-year term on the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. The selection of Conway from a shortlist curated by the PUCO’s nominating council undercuts DeWine’s pledge in January that he wouldn’t name appoint anyone to serve as regulator with ties to the […]
State regulators made ‘utility-friendly’ edits to audit of coal plant bailout, emails show
Documents show state utility regulators sought edits to draft versions of an audit they commissioned, prompting the removal of declarations that a ratepayer-funded bailout of two uneconomic coal plants was a bad deal for Ohio electric customers. Staff at the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, which sets customers’ water and electric rates, asked an auditor […]
Amid corruption scandal, energy money continues to flow to state lawmakers
It’s going to take more than a bribery scandal on a historic scale to get energy money out of Ohio politics. Campaign finance reports, submitted late last week, show the campaign contribution pipeline from the natural gas and utility industries to Ohio lawmakers’ campaign accounts is alive and well. The vast majority went to Republicans, […]
Feds seize records from Ohio utility tied to bailout, corruption scandal
An Ohio utility announced Tuesday it’s cooperating with a federal subpoena seeking records related to a massive bailout to coal and nuclear plants that’s now at the center of a public corruption prosecution. American Electric Power — the largest shareholder in a cooperative that owns two coal-fired plants that will receive an estimated $700 million […]
After bailing out AEP’s plants, lawmakers returned its campaign checks, records show
Records show Ohio state politicians refunded nearly $50,000 in recent months to a political action committee of American Electric Power, a beneficiary of a massive coal-fired power plant bailout via scandal-tainted legislation enacted last year. Nine state senators and two House representatives, all Republican, returned a total of $19,500 in campaign contributions to an AEP […]
‘Stand Your Ground’ laws tied to racial inequities, increase in violent crime, researchers say
Laws that expand the right to shoot to kill in perceived self-defense yield unequal consequences in the justice system depending on whether the person shot was white, according to research published Monday. So-called “stand your ground” laws, one of which was passed in Ohio last year, are also associated with a modest to robust increase […]