Commentary: Would FirstEnergy and AEP Rate Plans be Good for Consumers? No

Dr. Ned Hill, Professor of Public Affairs and City & Regional Planning at The John Glenn College of Public Affairs at The Ohio State University, is a frequent consultant to the OMA on a wide variety of manufacturing competitive issues.

Here he is on the record in a Columbus Dispatch op-ed about the Power Purchase Agreements proposed to the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio by AEP and FirstEnergy: “These proposals are about paying above-free-market rates for about 30 percent of the electricity AEP and FirstEnergy generate in Ohio. And, the proposals will transfer all of the business risk in operating these units from the companies’ stockholders and management to all electricity users in their territories—even if they are not customers of the utility.”