John Funk reports that FirstEnergy said recently that it is leaving the competitive power plant business, closing or selling all of its plants, including its nuclear plants, by the middle of next year (2018).
The sale of the nuclear plants to another company would have little immediate impact on customer bills. Closing the plants, which would probably take several years, would also have little impact on customer bills or power supplies.
Because Ohio has deregulated electric markets, the Illuminating Co., Ohio Edison and Toledo Edison buy the power they deliver through an ongoing series of state-monitored auctions designed to obtain the lowest wholesale price.
FirstEnergy Solutions, the unregulated subsidiary of FirstEnergy which owns the power plants, competes in these state-monitored auctions. Sometimes it does not win even a portion of what the three delivery companies think they will need because of the heavy competition. Additional power, if required, is also purchased from wholesale markets where day-ahead and hour-ahead competition determine the price.
Not all of FirstEnergy customers buy power from the local delivery companies. Customers who have signed power contracts with outside suppliers, some many states away, would not be affected if a nearby FirstEnergy Solutions plant were closed. In other words the power flowing second-by-second into homes and businesses here could have been generated anywhere in the region by any number of power companies.
Finally, there is PJM Interconnection. PJM is the non-profit company charged with keeping the high-voltage grid stable and with making sure there is enough power minute-by-minute in Ohio and 12 other states from Illinois to NJ, Maryland and Washington, D.C.
PJM has a lot to say about power plant closures. PJM can ask a company to continue to operate a power plant if it concludes the closing would jeopardize grid stability. The company can then go to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for help.
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