PJM, the grid operator responsible for reliability in Ohio and many other states, recently “found there is ‘no imminent threat’ to keeping the lights on as coal and nuclear power plants close,” according to E&E News.

These findings were the result of a “stress test” that looked at over 300 possible scenarios including extreme weather and more power plant retirements.

Furthermore, "’we think government intervention is unnecessary,’ [the president of PJM] said, saying it would be more inefficient and costly than a market-based solution.”

A new survey by Consumer Reports provides some insight into the way Ohioans view electricity. A quick summary:

• Electric utilities care about lowering costs for their customers: 12% agree; 51% disagree
• Reducing pollution from power plants is a worthwhile goal: 73% agree; 6% disagree
• Increasing renewable energy (such as solar and wind) is a worthwhile goal: 71% agree; 7% disagree

(The remaining % are unsure.)

Suggestion on what would be a worthwhile goal for FirstEnergy? Giving Ohioans what they actually want.

And yet FirstEnergy is still trying to make its nuclear bailout happen. The company plans for a renewed legislative push after the elections are over.

FirstEnergy Solutions – the FirstEnergy unit that owns and operates power plants and sells power to customers in the competitive market – filed for bankruptcy in the spring.

The bankruptcy court recently approved a settlement requiring FirstEnergy Corp. to pay $850 million in cash and notes into the pot for the creditors of FirstEnergy Solutions. In exchange, FirstEnergy Corp. will be relieved of further liability to the creditors. The settlement led FirstEnergy to recently report a $512 million loss in its third quarter –another example of how FirstEnergy Corp.’s heavy bet on coal and nuclear has been dragging it down for years.

The bankruptcy judge also allowed FirstEnergy Solutions to cancel its contracts to buy power from two old coal plants. We hope this leads to closing the uneconomic plants, which should have occurred a long time ago.

FirstEnergy Solutions is also trying to cancel contracts to buy coal from Murray Energy. The bankruptcy judge rejected the company’s initial bid to cancel these contracts because FirstEnergy Solutions tried to retain some of the benefits from the contracts – namely, requiring Murray Energy to continue cleaning up coal waste. The judge said the company may re-file its request to cancel the contracts if it’s willing to give up the benefits.

The focus of the bankruptcy case will now shift to developing a plan for paying the company’s liabilities. We will use our best efforts to make sure that FirstEnergy takes responsibility for cleaning up its mess – literally (hazardous waste from the company’s coal and nuclear plants) and figuratively.