FirstEnergy Should Not Get Something for Nothing

In a welcome development, the Cleveland Plain Dealer editorialized this week:  “FirstEnergy should not get something for nothing from its customers.”

The editorial notes the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel filing: “When all is said and done, [Ohio] consumers could be charged up to nearly $8.9 billion [over nearly eight years] to support the financial integrity of FirstEnergy Corp.”

The paper references a Bloomberg story that FirstEnergy “wants compensation of as much as $568 million (a year) for the added impact of salaries, vendor purchases and local employee spending in Akron.”  The company says that, if customers don’t pay that subsidy, Akron could lose its corporate headquarters.

The Plain Dearler:  “No one wants to see Akron lose a headquarters. But it’s not the responsibility of Ohio ratepayers to insulate FirstEnergy’s stockholders from the possibility that decisions made by FirstEnergy’s managers could invite a corporate takeover.”

Well said.  9/8/2016