A former Ohio University student and Sierra Club organizer will speak about clean energy and efficiency.
Athens is a community rooted in its past but always looking toward the future.
As a Bobcat alumnus, I’ve focused on honoring the legacy of my school by applying the skills I learned to help fight for and build a better Ohio. It’s a sentiment shared by current members of the community, many of whom happily tread down those storied streets as they head to meetings focused on building the next generation of energy production in our state.
It’s in this vein that American Electric Power’s pending request at the Public Utility Commission is especially infuriating.
As calls to cut carbon and support clean energy and efficiency grow here in Ohio, AEP is moving in the opposite direction by doubling down on old and dirty coal plants. The kicker is they want us to pay for this bad bet.
In Columbus, AEP has been making its case for a customer-funded bailout of 20 uneconomic coal-fired power units, six plants in total, in front of the PUCO. If approved, it would be a sweet deal for AEP. Its customers would be on the hook to pay AEP billions of dollars in costs over the next 10 years to keep these plants operating. After reviewing this projected cost and accounting for any potential revenue the plants might generate, Sierra Club’s expert witness estimated these costs would result in a $1.8 to $2.4 billion net increase to customers’ bills over that same period alone.
AEP’s plan would ensure a guaranteed profit for AEP’s shareholders while saddling all of the financial risk with customers. In other words, this proposal is asking customers to put their wallets on the line to bet on the future of coal, while AEP and its shareholders cannot lose.
The good news is that AEP’s bailout proposal is far from a done deal.
AEP’s plan is opposed by the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel, leading state industrial and manufacturing groups, Walmart and Kroger, environmental groups like Sierra Club and Earthjustice and numerous others. And while the PUCO Commissioners are the ultimate decisionmakers, the Commission’s own expert staff recently announced they too oppose AEP’s request.
That’s all in addition to the nearly 15,000 comments that have been submitted from many of AEP’s own customers urging PUCO to deny these bailouts.
But this fight can’t be won without your help.
While the PUCO has not deemed it necessary to hold public hearings on AEP’s bailout scheme, the Sierra Club adamantly disagrees. That is why I’m working with our community partners to host a citizen’s hearing Nov. 9 at the Athens Community Center for members of the public to get informed on AEP’s case and make their voice heard. Starting at 6:30 p.m., we will be collecting letters, petitions and testimony to submit to the PUCO to ensure that Commissioners know exactly where electricity customers in Athens stand on financially supporting these bailouts.
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If you are as concerned as I am about the backward priorities of AEP in prioritizing dirty coal plants instead of clean energy and efficiency, you need to be at this hearing. In the heart of coal country, it’s one thing for Athenians to remember the past and another issue entirely to chain our future to it. As students and community members plot the path forward for fighting climate change and local Athens clean energy businesses help grow the clean energy economy, it is clear that AEP’s plan is not in Athens’ best interests.
AEP should be focused on building a sustainable future for its customers, not padding the pockets of their shareholders at our expense. Join me at the Athens Community Center on Nov. 9 to help ensure that their bailout scheme is defeated for good.
Neil Waggoner is the Sierra Club's Ohio organizing representative and an Ohio University alumnus.
