COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Duke Energy is bringing its controversial coal bailouts case before the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio in Columbus, following public hearings in Cincinnati last month where no one testified in full support of Duke’s proposal. Several Ohio electricity customers urged the PUCO to deny Duke’s bailout request, backed by close to 2,000 petitions submitted in September.
Duke is among other large utilities in Ohio, including FirstEnergy and AEP, seeking approval to bail out a number of old coal plants that have grown non-competitive on the energy market.
“Opposition to the coal bailouts is growing among consumers in Ohio,” said Neil Waggoner, organizer for the Sierra Club. “The outcry is evidence of what people want - and don’t want -- when it comes to meeting their energy needs.”
The statewide bailout requests by Ohio utilities have drawn considerable criticism from businesses -- 12 large energy users -- including Macy’s, Lowe’s, Costco, Staples, and Yum! Brands. As members of the Complete Coalition, the businesses signed on to a letter opposing AEP’s own request for coal plant bailouts. These companies, which employ more than 79,000 Ohioans, cited the bailout request as “unfair” and “harmful to competitive markets.”
The bailout cases come on the heels of a recent poll by Public Policy Partners that shows more than two-in-three Ohio electricity customers (68 percent) say they would be more favorable towards their electric utility if it replaced electricity from coal with electricity from clean energy such as wind and solar, with 45 percent saying they would be "much more favorable." According to the poll, the majority of Ohio electricity customers say they think the state should be investing more in renewable energy like solar and wind.
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About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 2.4 million members and supporters nationwide. In addition to creating opportunities for people of all ages, levels and locations to have meaningful outdoor experiences, the Sierra Club works to safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and litigation. For more information, visit http://www.sierraclub.org.