The FirstEnergy Case Continues

The Ohio Supreme Court issues a temporary stay…to stop collection of a fee from nearly every electric customer in the state, starting Jan. 1…to subsidize two nuclear power plants. This, in a provision included in a scandal-tainted bill approved by the state Legislature in July 2019. The order, signed by Chief Justice, Maureen O’Connor…comes a week after a judge in Franklin County issued a preliminary injunction to stop collection of the fees. The Ohio Manufacturers’ Association appealed to the Supreme Court earlier this month after the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio in August cited the legislation, known as HB6, in issuing an order…approving collection of the fees…and then refused to reconsider the group’s request for a new hearing. The law calls for the plant’s new owner, Energy Harbor, to receive as much as $150 million dollars a year and nearly $1 billion dollars in total.