nuclear-news

The company said it’s counting on the Ohio Senate to pass something akin to the recently passed House bailout bill, dubbed HB 6. FES said that plan, as recently amended by the Senate but not yet voted on, would give the plants a $150 million annual subsidy they need to remain open.

If FES doesn’t get it, the company said, it is set to close the plants by May 2021, resulting in probable layoffs for more than 1,300 Ohio employees who staff and service them.

FES initially said it needed a subsidy in hand by June 30 or it would not be able to refuel the plants in time to keep them in service. When that came and went without a bill’s passage, FES said it would need the subsidy approved by July 17………

But a tougher Ohio Senate seems unmoved to be forced to pass the House bill, or its own, by July 17. It has another job lined up first. ……..

Although both chambers are firmly in Republican control, they’ve had their differences, and continue to have them over energy issues.

To pay for the nuclear subsidies, the House favors eliminating standards for renewable energy and any charges to consumers linked to renewable subsidies. The Senate wants to cap state renewable standards before they reach their previously intended peak but not eliminate them. That’s still to the dismay of the wind and solar energy industries, which say they’ll be severely impacted.

The Senate also has been less willing to write a blank check………

Fortney said. “Our members aren’t interested in giving a company a major subsidy for any period of time without being able to see their books.”

That last point about open books has been a stickler with critics of the bailout. FES said it can’t share its financials because it’s in bankruptcy. The company basically is asking legislators to trust it when it says its nuclear plants need a bailout.

Meanwhile, recent testimony in Columbus by outside economists might have led to a more cautious Senate. One is Paul Sotkiewicz, a former chief economist for PJM Interconnection, which runs the electricity grid in the region………

He also said the subsidies don’t make sense from a standpoint of providing Ohio and its industries with the cheapest power.

“It just doesn’t make any sense from an economic development standpoint. This is just crony capitalism, pure and simple,” Sotkiewicz said.

He’s not the only economist telling senators the subsidy is foolish, either. Ned Hill, a former urban affairs dean at Cleveland State University and now a professor of public affairs at The Ohio State University, is another………

Clearly, the Senate has a lot of conflicting testimony to wade through. Whether senators believe the critics or FES likely will determine how it moves forward and when………https://www.crainscleveland.com/energy-and-environment/bailout-ohios-nuclear-power-plants-may-come-too-late-firstenergy-solutions