coal
FirstEnergy asks for more time, more money on purchase of coal plant
Akron-based FirstEnergy on Friday blew through a regulator’s deadline for a report — and it told the regulator that it needed to rush through a $36 million annual rate increase in a matter of weeks if it wanted the analysis to go forward. The West Virginia Public Service Commission on Dec. 30 ordered the Ohio […]
Ohio energy policy: Incoherent, asymmetrical, and special interest driven
The lack of coherent state energy policy and asymmetrical alignment of risks and rewards left a vacuum that made Ohio fertile ground for the HB6 bailout and bribery scandal. The national debate over energy policy in recent years has revolved around two quite different, although not irreconcilable policy objectives: transitioning the energy sector into a […]
Ohioans continue paying for House Bill 6 scandal as Householder’s corruption trial presses on
The following article was originally published on News5Cleveland.com and is published in the Ohio Capital Journal under a content-sharing agreement. Unlike other OCJ articles, it is not available for free republication by other news outlets as it is owned by WEWS in Cleveland. Ohioans continue to foot the bill of not just former Speaker of the […]
Ohio’s largest coal plant to change coal ash handling after U.S. EPA denial
The operator of Ohio’s largest coal-fired power plant says it plans to switch to a different waste handling method to comply with a federal order to stop using an on-site coal ash pond. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last month denied a request by the James M. Gavin Power Plant for extra time to comply […]
Coal plant operators shirking responsibilities on ash cleanup, report contends
In the wake of major coal ash spills from power plant containment ponds in Tennessee and into the Dan River along the North Carolina and Virginia border, the federal Environmental Protection Agency in 2015 laid out the first federal rules for managing the ash, one of the nation’s largest waste streams, and the toxins it […]
Clean energy is about more than just climate change
Imagine for a moment that climate change wasn’t happening. That the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change hadn’t determined major inevitable and irreversible climate changes are likely on the horizon due to release of greenhouse gases. Would our transition past coal to a new energy economy still make sense? According to a new working paper by […]
Coal plant subsidies from pay-for-play legislation have cost Ohioans $173 million
Ohioans have paid $173 million to cover the losses of three Ohio utility companies’ investments in two coal-fired power plants since 2020, thanks in part to a recent law that’s now in the center of a criminal public corruption investigation. By year’s end, the tab since Jan. 1, 2020 on the Clifty Creek coal plant […]
U.S. Supreme Court curbs federal power to regulate greenhouse gases, in blow to Biden
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday the Environmental Protection Agency lacks authority to broadly regulate greenhouse gases as pollutants, siding with a group of Republican attorneys general and coal companies in a major blow to the executive branch’s power to curb climate change. The opinion was a victory for the Republican-led states that undertook the […]
FirstEnergy fights to slow-walk subpoena for records tied to bribery case
Despite public promises of transparency, FirstEnergy Corp. is fighting a legal battle to slow-walk its production of documents subpoenaed by a consumer watchdog agency related to the company’s self-professed bribery operation. FirstEnergy, which owns three electric utilities in Ohio, has already successfully narrowed the scope of the documents it was ordered to turn over related […]
FirstEnergy’s CEO and SVP ordered $64 million bribery scheme, shareholders say
FirstEnergy’s CEO and senior vice president “devised and orchestrated” a $64 million bribery scheme to pay a top legislative leader and utility regulator in exchange for official action, according to a sworn declaration Wednesday from shareholders’ lawyers who are suing the company. While CEO Charles “Chuck” Jones and senior vice president for external affairs Michael […]
EPA coal ash crackdown could shutter southeast Ohio power plant
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is cracking down on groundwater pollution from the James M. Gavin power plant in Cheshire, which some say could mean the beginning of the end for Ohio’s largest coal-fired facility. The plant’s coal ash pond, a 58-acre reservoir that holds the noxious waste left behind from burnt coal, is unlined. […]
Ohioans spent $211 million subsidizing two coal plants over last two years
Electric customers across Ohio collectively spent an estimated $211 million via add-on bill charges over the last two years to cover for losses from two coal-fired power plants that continue to bleed millions annually, according to new data from state regulators. The money to the Ohio Valley Electric Corp. (OVEC) — an entity comprised of […]