FirstEnergy mum on fate of two old Ohio power plants in regional auction

As reported by the Cleveland Plain Dealer, today's PJM capacity market auction for the 2019-2020 timeframe appears to have not gone well for FirstEnergy, vis-a-vis its problem-plagued, non-competitive Davis-Besse atomic reactor on the Lake Erie shoreline east of Toledo.

The article quotes two of the many parties opposed to FirstEnergy's request for a multi-billion dollar bailout, at ratepayer expense, to prop up Davis-Besse:

"Today's favorable electricity auction shows that competitive markets can provide better prices for consumers than government bailouts and subsidies for utilities," said Ohio Consumers' Counsel Bruce Weston on Tuesday evening. "Ohioans' electric bills should follow the low prices in the market."

Weston's analysts and outside experts have testified that the deal approved by the PUCO would add about $100 a year for the next eight years to every residential customer's electric bills.

The Ohio Manufacturers' Association, representing both small companies and larger industries, has also opposed the FirstEnergy plan.

"The [auction] result shows the forces of supply and demand are working, attracting new generation resources, resulting in lower clearing prices," said spokesman Ryan Augsburger. "The bottom line, the market is producing savings and reliability for customers large and small."