Update: The AEP Ohio PPA hearing concluded this week. In prior weeks, some intervenors, including OMA Energy Group, raised doubts about the reliability of AEP Ohio’s modeling of energy-price forecasts and the effects on economic development from plant closures. Seeking to shore up its earlier testimony on these topics, AEP Ohio presented two rebuttal witnesses to address the intervenors’ criticisms. Witness Bletzacker’s testimony tried to cast doubt on some intervenors’ use of energy futures contract prices. Witness Allen attempted to show that the SSO auctions are not an effective tool to mitigate price volatility. He also reiterated that his economic impact model could reliably capture the effects on economic development from plant closures; however, his testimony failed to address some of the model’s weaknesses that OMA Energy Group was able to draw out during its cross examination of him a few weeks earlier.