FirstEnergy (JCP&L) Wants Big Corporate Subsidy at Your Expense

FirstEnergy Solutions (FES), a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corporation, formally requested that the Department of Energy (DOE) to issue an emergency order to keep nuclear and coal-fired power plants in service in the U.S. Mid Atlantic and Midwest. FirstEnergy owns the company Jersey Central Power & Light’s (JCP&L) here in New Jersey. Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, released the following statement:

“FirstEnergy is illegally and immorally asking the federal government to ignore the law at the expense of the ratepayers and the environment. Ratepayers should not have to pay more to see their energy bills increase and air pollution exacerbated. FirstEnergy has no right to ask Secretary Perry for this big corporate subsidy hidden behind a bailout and especially not for the entire PJM market. Instead of paying to keep dying and polluting industries open, we should be investing in clean renewable energy such as wind and solar. Fossil fuels and nuclear power are floundering because they can’t compete against wind power. We hope Secretary Perry and the rest of the Trump Administration will refuse their ridiculous request but are concerned they might now because of their pro-fossil fuel agenda. If they do, the Sierra Club will take swift and strong legal action.

“This is just another shameful attempt at a bailout for dying dirty energy. Here in New Jersey FirstEnergy is represented by JCP&L, who has mismanaged our energy grid for years. We call them WorstEnergy because all they care about making profits. Instead of making the grid more resilient, they fix the same problems repeatedly. In the last month 300,000 JCP&L customers were left without power after winter storms. Customers continue to pay rate increases while seeing their service go down. They do not deserve a bailout for their failing practices. Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is the definition of insanity.

“The greed of the utility companies should not overshadow the needs and safety of the people. JCP&L wanted to spend $110 million on a massive transmission line they didn’t need; a project the court just struck down. Meanwhile, their customers tens of thousands have no power. When they say a project is for ‘Reliability’ it is because when they lie once, they re-lie again to convince us that it is needed. They’ve spend hundreds of millions of dollars on resiliency projects but every time the wind blows, JCP&L stands for ‘Jesus Christ, Pray for Lights.’

“It’s deplorable that FirstEnergy is making this move for an illegal bailout when subsidies are coming in from all over the place. PJM is looking to give nuclear billions in subsidies and Trump’s tax cuts continue to benefit these plants. In New Jersey, they are righting alongside PSEG for a $300 million nuclear subsidy bill. This would benefit JCP&L since they have a distribution system here as well. This nuclear subsidy plan would shamefully help utilities at the expense of the ratepayers and environment of our state. With all of the subsidies and deals they are getting, asking for the DOE to bail out the entire PJM means FirstEnergy should get the ‘Chutzpah of the Year Award.’

“All these utility companies care about is making money and that is why they’re trying to bully the DOE into this bailout. Every time a line goes down in NJ, the companies such as JCP&L make more money fixing the line rather than redoing it underground where it would be safer. They get at least 14% return on emergency repairs and can charge overtime. They also get a 12% return on so-called resiliency projects. They won’t make this kind of money if the lines are underground which are only about an 8% profit. FirstEnergy is selfishly ignoring the reality of the marketplace with this demand, not to mention the health of our communities and quality of our environment.”