Update:  This week, the PUCO denied OCC’s application for rehearing regarding the PUCO’s October 17, 2012 Order approving Ormet’s request for payment deferrals and a modification of its existing unique arrangement. In OCC’s application for rehearing, it requested that the PUCO require Ormet to continue to maintain 650 full-time jobs and clarify that the PUCO may terminate the unique arrangement if long-term metal prices do not increase enough for Ormet to operate profitably. The PUCO held that its October 17, 2012 Order only allowed Ormet to defer October and November 2012 payments to AEP-Ohio; therefore, all other terms of Ormet’s existing unique arrangement remain in effect. This may present an opportunity for the OMAEG to explore with public officials a process or mechanism that produces a more equitable resolution for ratepayers. Accordingly, the OMAEG intends to explore this issue in the first quarter of 2013.