The Sierra Club on Wednesday afternoon confirmed that it has walked out of the PUCO-sponsored "settlement negotiations" with FirstEnergy over the company's plan to have customers pay extra to help its coal-fired W.H. Sammis an Davis-Besse nuclear plants compete against less expensive gas-fired power plants.
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Sierra Club late Wednesday said it had withdrawn from closed-door negotiations with FirstEnergy over the company's latest rate plan.
The private talks began in October and initially involved only FirstEnergy and the staff of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. Opponents were invited late last week.
The plan includes a customer-paid subsidy for two old FirstEnergy power plants that FirstEnergy says cannot compete against new gas-fired plants selling power into Ohio's high-voltage grid.
The Sierra Club and the non-profit public interest law firm representing it, Earthjustice, said the discussions were a farce and vowed to oppose the rate plan if the PUCO approves it.
"The expedited discussion with FirstEnergy and the PUCO staff amounted to nothing more than being asked to agree to a pre-negotiated, back-room deal that would harm Ohio's businesses and homeowners," said Dan Sawmiller, senior representative for the Sierra Club's Ohio Beyond Coal Campaign, in an email.
"The proposed deal has no chance of survival, and the Commission should forcefully reject it. If the Commission moves forward with the [PUCO] staff's proposal, the Sierra Club and Earthjustice will fight this back-room deal to its ultimate defeat."
FirstEnergy and the PUCO staff quietly worked on the settlement for about a month. Late last week, the commission's staff notified opponents that a settlement had been negotiated and invited them to closed-door negotiations.
Interviews with people knowledgeable of the meetings, but not authorized to talk about them, said all participants were required to sign a non-disclosure agreement, meaning attorneys and others involved in the discussions could not legally talk about the proposed deal.
Some of those involved thought PUCO Chief of Staff Jason Rafeld made the demand, but a commission spokesman said the agency does not require such arrangements.
FirstEnergy filed the plan more than 15 months ago, saying it might have to close the W.H. Sammis coal plant on the Ohio River and the Davis-Besse nuclear plant on Lake Erie near Toledo if the commission did did not approve the subsidies.
The Sierra Club, other environmental and consumer groups, other power companies and some commercial and industrial customers have been opposed to the special deal from the beginning.
The Ohio Consumers Counsel and the Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council, or NOPEC, have opposed the plan from the beginning and determined that it would cost consumers $3 billion over the life of the deal.
Chuck Kieper, NOPEC executive director, said he will meet with NOPEC's executive board early next week to decide what the organization will do if the PUCO approves the deal.
Details of the proposal may be available as early as the beginning of next week when the company files it in the PUCO docket.
As of late Wednesday, the company was still attempting to persuade opponents to "sign on" to the settlement.
"The Sierra Club has participated in these discussions, and also was actively involved in public hearings in Columbus that lasted more than two months," said FirstEnergy spokesman Todd Schneider.
"It's unfortunate that they remain unwilling to sign on to our plan, which offers numerous benefits to our customers and communities. We continue to work with a broad set of parties across Ohio to reach a positive outcome for our customers."