FirstEnergy Withholding $1.5 Million Owed to Poverty-Assistance Program
| By Dave Harding, ProgressOhio - May 2nd, 2008 at 4:37 pm EDT |
Dave Rinebolt has long advocated for low- and middle-income residential electricity customers, and he represented those customers vocally and visibly during the recent legislative debate designed to protect Ohio customers from the price spikes seen in other states.
Rinebolt might have been a little too visible -- at least from the perch of those working for Akron's FirstEnergy.
Although FirstEnergy agreed more than a year ago to pay $1.5 million to Rinebolt's organization for a home weatherization program, the money was never paid. The PUCO ordered them to pay it -- twice. Still no money. Today, Rinebolt went to the PUCO and formally asked the state regulators to force FirstEnergy to pay up.
Was their a connection between Rinebolt's efforts to help the poor and FirstEnergy's efforts to hurt the poor?
Sounds like it.
Findlay, Ohio -- Advocates for Ohio's poorest electricity customers asked the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio today (FRIDAY) to order FirstEnergy Corp. to immediately pay $1.5 million it is withholding for an energy-efficiency program designed to lower the electric bills of low-income Ohioans.
FirstEnergy affiliates agreed to provide the funding in November, 2006. The Commission again affirmed the agreement in February, 2007, but FirstEnergy has refused repeated requests to provide the resources, said David Rinebolt, counsel for Ohio Partners for Affordable Energy (OPAE). The settlement was originally part of FirstEnergy's Rate Certainty Plan.
"Because FirstEnergy has failed to live up to its commitments as ordered by this Commission, 1,655 households struggling to pay their energy bills will not receive assistance,'' Rinebolt told the Commission in the Friday filing.
The agreement called for OPAE to use the money to fund energy efficiency projects for low-income households through the Community Connections Program. OPAE manages the Program which is funded by FirstEnergy. The funding being withheld would have allowed services to be expanded in 2007 and 2008.
Those who qualify for the program receive a whole-house energy assessment, followed by weatherization and other efficiency improvements proven to lower energy bills. The program meets the requirements of the Environmental Protection Agencies Energy StarŪ Home Performance Program. OPAE's network of nonprofits and their trained contractors have been weatherizing homes for more than 25 years.
FirstEnergy's refusal to pay the $1.5 million coincided with the sometimes-contentious debate over Gov. Ted Strickland's comprehensive energy bill. OPAE was a part of the Ohio Coalition for Affordable Power, a diverse group that successfully fought utilities' efforts to subject Ohio ratepayers to sudden and severe increases in their electric bills. Gov. Strickland signed the new law Thursday. OPAE has also opposed a recent request by FirstEnergy to increase base rates.
Rinebolt might have been a little too visible -- at least from the perch of those working for Akron's FirstEnergy.
Although FirstEnergy agreed more than a year ago to pay $1.5 million to Rinebolt's organization for a home weatherization program, the money was never paid. The PUCO ordered them to pay it -- twice. Still no money. Today, Rinebolt went to the PUCO and formally asked the state regulators to force FirstEnergy to pay up.
Was their a connection between Rinebolt's efforts to help the poor and FirstEnergy's efforts to hurt the poor?
Sounds like it.
Findlay, Ohio -- Advocates for Ohio's poorest electricity customers asked the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio today (FRIDAY) to order FirstEnergy Corp. to immediately pay $1.5 million it is withholding for an energy-efficiency program designed to lower the electric bills of low-income Ohioans.
FirstEnergy affiliates agreed to provide the funding in November, 2006. The Commission again affirmed the agreement in February, 2007, but FirstEnergy has refused repeated requests to provide the resources, said David Rinebolt, counsel for Ohio Partners for Affordable Energy (OPAE). The settlement was originally part of FirstEnergy's Rate Certainty Plan.
"Because FirstEnergy has failed to live up to its commitments as ordered by this Commission, 1,655 households struggling to pay their energy bills will not receive assistance,'' Rinebolt told the Commission in the Friday filing.
The agreement called for OPAE to use the money to fund energy efficiency projects for low-income households through the Community Connections Program. OPAE manages the Program which is funded by FirstEnergy. The funding being withheld would have allowed services to be expanded in 2007 and 2008.
Those who qualify for the program receive a whole-house energy assessment, followed by weatherization and other efficiency improvements proven to lower energy bills. The program meets the requirements of the Environmental Protection Agencies Energy StarŪ Home Performance Program. OPAE's network of nonprofits and their trained contractors have been weatherizing homes for more than 25 years.
FirstEnergy's refusal to pay the $1.5 million coincided with the sometimes-contentious debate over Gov. Ted Strickland's comprehensive energy bill. OPAE was a part of the Ohio Coalition for Affordable Power, a diverse group that successfully fought utilities' efforts to subject Ohio ratepayers to sudden and severe increases in their electric bills. Gov. Strickland signed the new law Thursday. OPAE has also opposed a recent request by FirstEnergy to increase base rates.
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Shame on FirstEnergy.