Dislocated workers

Dislocated workers

washington

The U.S. Department of Labor will provide a $1,376,673 grant to assist dislocated workers in three Ohio counties, including Trumbull, the department announced Wednesday. The funds will go to help about 507 workers who are receiving intensive services and training from the state of Ohio or who are on waiting lists due to funding shortages. The money will be used to provide affected workers with services such as skills assessment, basic-skills training, individual-career counseling and occupational-skills training. The grant, awarded to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, will be operated by the department’s offices in Trumbull, Summit and Hamilton counties.

Help for employers

washington

Employers who offer health coverage to early retirees can now begin applying for help with costs, U.S. Rep. Charlie Wilson, D-6th, announced this week. Under the $5 billion Early Retiree Reinsurance Program, the federal government will provide financial assistance for employer health plans offered to retirees age 55-64 and their families. The temporary program is scheduled to expire in 2014 when the health-care reform legislation goes into effect. At that time, insurers no longer will be able to deny coverage based on pre-existing conditions. To apply for the program, employers should visit www.hhs.gov/ociio. Program participants will be able to submit claims for medical care of their early retirees going back to June 1.

Smart Grid gets OK

columbus

The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio approved FirstEnergy’s Smart Grid Modernization Initiative on Wednesday. The three-year pilot program will involve 44,000 FirstEnergy customers in the Cleveland Electric Illuminating service territory. Among several program modifications, FirstEnergy agreed to keep the program’s accounting records separate, set target values for service reliability and share pilot-project metrics and initial-assessment results with PUCO. FirstEnergy also agreed to seek PUCO’s approval before beginning additional Smart Grid initiatives beyond the pilot period.