FirstEnergy’s plan to be available for scrutiny by public

By Marc Kovac

There will be two public hearings on the issue at the PUCO’s offices.

COLUMBUS — State regulators will spend up to two months considering FirstEnergy’s comprehensive energy-efficiency initiative, including its plans to distribute compact fluorescent lights to customers who want them.

The Ohio Public Utilities Commission released its procedural schedule for the plan Thursday, including deadlines for groups that want to play an official part in the proceedings and submit testimony and objections.

There will be two meetings open to the public: a Jan. 21 technical conference and a March 2 evidentiary hearing. Both will take place at PUCO’s offices in downtown Columbus, near the Statehouse. The latter session could stretch over several days, said Matt Butler, PUCO spokesman.

“That’s not unheard of, depending on cross-examination and things like that among the parties,” he said.

The commission will make a final decision on the plan sometime after the March 2 hearing, during one of its regularly scheduled business meetings.

“We’re willing to work with them based on the schedule that they’ve outlined,” said FirstEnergy spokeswoman Ellen Raines. “We would certainly hope for something quickly so we could begin rolling out our programs. The goal here is to get energy-efficiency programs into the hands of customers who want to use them so they can save energy and money and we can meet the state’s mandates for energy efficiency.”

In mid-December, FirstEnergy submitted details of its plan to PUCO, including incentives for customers to replace older appliances with more energy-efficient alternatives and assistance for customers to better insulate their homes.

Additionally, the company wants to distribute millions of compact fluorescent lights to customers who want them, directly from the company, through selected retail outlets or from social-service agencies.

FirstEnergy has asked PUCO to sign off on about $30 million in annual cost recovery to pay for the programs. It estimates that customers would see average increases in their monthly electric bills of $1.42 to $1.57.

mkovac@dixcom.com