Yesterday evening regulators at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) said “Hold up, wait a minute” to FirstEnergy and AEP, rescinding waivers that had allowed the utilities to propose their bailout deals. In simplest terms: the bailouts got blocked! Whoop, there it is.

If FirstEnergy wants to proceed with the subsidies, it will have to formally file them for FERC’s review (AEP has already said its not interested). According to RTO Insider, this “will require the companies to prove the lack of affiliate abuse,” or show that this was not a sweetheart deal between sister companies – a steep hill for the utility to climb. Like, perpendicular to the ground steep.

Stay tuned. And in the meantime, celebrate a victory for customers and a fair electric marketplace!

You can always visit EDF’s FirstEnergy website for our newsletter archive and links to the latest news about FirstEnergy’s bailout.

Wait. FirstEnergy’s Power Plants Didn’t Even Need Rescuing in the First Place.

FirstEnergy’s subsidy proposal was built on the premise that its power plants couldn’t make money on their own, so they needed guaranteed income to stay online. We’ve said before that the utility giant doesn’t understand the difference between need and want, but FirstEnergy’s newest earnings report makes that all too clear.

The two power plants in supposed need of saving were not only profitable in the first three months of 2016, they are expected to continue to be profitable. For the whole year. Without the subsidies.

So they guaranteed profits they sought – paid for by higher customer electric bills – would have just made them extra money.

AEP’s Bruised Ego Gets in the Way of Business

AEP has been looking to off-load its power plants that were not included in the subsidy deal. Houston-based utility Dynegy is interested in purchasing them. Simple supply and demand, right? 

Only problem: Dynegy isn’t invited to the bid party.

The power company saw what was going on in Ohio, and suggested it could provide the requisite power for billions less than the FirstEnergy and AEP deals would cost. In fact, Dynegy acted as an outspoken opponent and even offered two “superior alternatives” to the bailouts.

Aside from the move being what Dynegy’s CEO calls “an ego thing,” the exclusion could have serious implications for shareholders. If AEP is limiting bids, that could discount the value of the shares’ worth and hurt the overall company revenue. Pretty sure that’s illegal.

But it’s AEP’s bid party, and they’ll cry if they want to.

PUCO Chairman Getting Out of Dodge

Utility drama rarely makes the news. But the subsidy battle that’s been playing out in Ohio over the past year has undeniably received a lot of media attention. And they say if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.

Well, PUCO Chairman Andre Porter may be taking just that path. According to the Columbus Dispatch, Porter will be resigning his post after little more than a year. Not only that, he’s taking a new job that will lead him out of Ohio altogether. TBD on who will replace him.

One can only speculate when such a departure arrives on the heels of a controversy like the bailouts. No formal announcement has been made, so we’ll take the “no comment” route. No further comment, at least.