power
After a series of winter storms, regulators approve new standards for power plants
Two years after Winter Storm Uri, which caused a massive power failure in Texas that caused more than 200 deaths, and just two months after another storm, Elliott, forced blackouts in parts of the South, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has approved new extreme cold reliability standards for power plants. However, the vote last week […]
Climate solutions for Great Lakes power grid include better planning, transmission
As the Great Lakes region experiences warmer and wetter weather, advocates say the time is now to prepare the electric grid for climate change. Proposed federal rules could jumpstart a formal process for doing that — if regulators decide to finalize them next year. Here’s what advocates, regulators and other grid experts say about the […]
State government may soon kill a solar project in the governor’s backyard
Solar energy developers are facing peril after state officials recommended against granting them a permit to build a solar farm in Greene County capable of powering an estimated 34,000 homes per year. Opposition from local governments, primarily concerned about the rural aesthetics of the area, trump the Kingwood Solar’s signed leases with landowners, the payroll […]
Looking for jobs in all the wrong places: Ohio policymakers’ misguided belief in natural gas
If you’re looking for economic development that will deliver job growth, increase local commerce, and improve quality of life, you can’t do much worse than natural gas extraction, gas-fired power plants, and infrastructure. They don’t provide many jobs and they impose serious costs that discourage other kinds of job-creating economic activity. Apart from contributing to […]
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 […]
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. […]
Three men plead guilty to plotting a white supremacist attack on power grid
Three men, one from Ohio, pleaded guilty to federal terrorism charges after admitting their plans to attack the power grid “in furtherance of white supremacist ideology,” according to documents unsealed Wednesday. Christopher Brenner Cook, 20, of Columbus, Ohio; Jonathan Allen Frost, 24, of West Lafayette, Indiana, and of Katy, Texas; and Jackson Matthew Sawall, 22, […]
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 […]
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 […]