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You almost have to admire FirstEnergy’s lobbyists. They’ve re-defined a bailout bill for outdated, uneconomic power plants as a “clean air program.” George Orwell would appreciate the sheer audacity.
But make no mistake, legislation introduced today sends massive customer-funded subsidies to FirstEnergy Solutions’ money-losing power plants. The bill even finagles it so all of Ohio’s uneconomic coal-fired power plants qualify for clean air credits.
As John Finnigan writes in a blog post, the new bailout bill also is a huge blow to Ohio’s clean-energy economy. The proposal kills state provisions to advance efficiency and renewable energy, which are cost-effective means of lowering pollution from the power sector.
The winners are out-of-state hedge fund managers that took over the bankrupt FirstEnergy Solutions.
The losers, well, are Ohioans.
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