John Funk
clevelanddotcom
Cleveland, OH, United States
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Past articles by John:
Hundreds of Ohio companies will feel ripple effect of Lordstown idling Cruze
GM's decision to end production of six models, including the Chevy Cruze made in Lordstown, is sure to have an impact on the automotive supply chain across the state, but exactly where and how large an impact is difficult to predict at this point. → Read More
Northwest Ohio wind farm will supply GM plants in Ohio, Indiana
General Motors will buy 100 percent of the power generated by a 100 megawatt wind farm in northwest Ohio. Construction has been under way for some time and now scheduled to be complete by fall. GM's long-term goal is to use 100 percent clean energy globally by 2050. → Read More
GOP voters support green energy, oppose coal, nuclear bailouts, statewide poll finds
A new survey by a Republican polling firm finds that Ohio's most conservative voters, whether Republican or Independent, favor wind farms and solar arrays, and are not in favor of "bailouts" for old coal and nuclear power plants. → Read More
Subsidizing coal and nuclear power plants would not be legal, says PJM
PJM Interconnection, the independent company that runs real-time wholesale power markets in Ohio and 12 other states, says fixing markets to help FirstEnergy and other companies that own large nuclear and coal plants would not be workable or even legal. → Read More
Saving coal, nuclear plants pits FirstEnergy against PUCO before federal regulators
FirstEnergy's three-year battle to increase customer charges to save its big old coal and nuclear plants is headed for a showdown at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and the company is getting help from unions, local government and even a United Way chapter. → Read More
FE nuclear surcharges opposed by Ohio voters, API poll finds
More than 80 percent of registered voters living near Perry and Davis-Besse nuclear plants oppose paying surcharges to keep the plants open, new Harris Poll for the American Petroleum Institute finds. Same results for residents of Summit County, where power plant owner FirstEnergy Corp. is headquartered. → Read More
General Motors going 100 percent green at Ohio, Indiana plants
General Motors is going green. The automaker today announced that by the end of 2018 its four Ohio plants and three in Indiana will be powered by 100 percent renewable energy. → Read More
PUCO rejects challenge to FirstEnergy special subsidy, you'll keep paying more
FirstEnergy can collect more than $200 million a year in extra charges from its customers for up to five yeas, thanks to a ruling today by the PUCO, which rejected the opposition to the charges from the Ohio Consumers' Counsel, the Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council (NOPEC) and the Sierra Club, among others. The ruling will cost average residential → Read More
LEEDCo wind turbine application complete, says Ohio Power Siting Board
The $126 million Lake Erie wind turbine project will finally get a formal state hearing, probably within the next 90 days. Project Icebreaker, Inc., a creation of the Lake Erie Energy Development Corp., is proposing to build six wind turbines 8 to 10 miles northwest of downtown with the ability to generate about 20 megawatts (20 million watts). → Read More
$4.2 billion wind stymied in Ohio: House refuses to ease restrictive zoning
More than $4 billion in new wind farm projects in Ohio will remain on the shelf because key lawmakers in the Ohio House refused to relax restrictive zoning added in 2014. Wind supporters said House leadership sandbagged the proposal, supported by the Senate as well as rank and file members of the House, → Read More
Ohio electric utility rates challenged, have cost customers billions of dollars in hidden charges
A lone Ohio lawmaker, backed by consumer groups and manufacturers, is challenging a law created nearly a decade ago that has led to soaring electric rates even as power prices have reached record lows because of state-mandated competition. → Read More
FirstEnergy nuclear hearings suspended in Ohio House
Ohio Rep. William Seitz, R-Cincinnati, who chairs the politically powerful House Public Utilities Committee, has suspended further hearings -- and for now a vote -- on FirstEnergy's proposal for special customer charges to subsidize its nuclear power plants. → Read More
Cleveland Thermal moves from coal to natural gas (photos)
Cleveland Thermal has heated downtown office buildings for generations, mostly with coal. That era has ended. The company, now owned by the Corix Group, a Canadian utility holding company, has invested $26 million in new high-tech gas boilers and reduced its carbon dioxide emissions by 84 percent. The source of the gas are the Marcellus shale developments in Ohio and Pennsylvania. → Read More
Nuclear subsidies distort markets, hurt business, say FirstEnergy opponents
More than a dozen FirstEnergy opponents appealed to the competitive market sensibilities of the GOP dominated Ohio House Public Utilities Committee on Tuesday, urging lawmakers to vote against a utility-written law that would raise monthly electric bills for up to 16 years. → Read More
FirstEnergy nuclear subsidy would thwart Ohio shale gas, kill jobs says API Ohio
The American Petroleum Institute has joined the expanding opposition to FirstEnergy's efforts to create a special law increasing customer electric bills in order to subsidize the company's nuclear power plants struggling to compete profitably against new gas turbine plants. → Read More
FirstEnergy to sell or close power plants if Ohio, Pennsylvania do not return to regulated rates
FirstEnergy's top executive Charles Jones says his company's power plants can't survive unless Ohio returns to regulated (higher) prices and will sell or close them over the next 18 months if lawmakers don't agree and return to traditional regulation where the government sets prices rather than market competition. → Read More
Corporate leaders urge GOP to reinstate renewable energy
Pressure is building on Ohio Republican lawmakers to re-instate rather than as planned scrap state rules requiring utilities to sell increasing amounts of power generated by wind, solar and other renewable technologies. → Read More
PUCO gives FirstEnergy up to $200 million in surcharges a year for three years, and chance to extend increases an additional 2 years
If you are a FirstEnergy customer, you are going to start paying more every month. The rate increase is not to save FirstEnergy's aging power plants, as the company once insisted. This increase is supposed to be one to help FirstEnergy modernize its local delivery system. But it was unclear whether a ruling by the PUCO will require the company to do anything with the new money, including… → Read More
Ohio GOP voters support green energy, efficiency programs and customer choice
Political conservatives like green energy about as much as their liberal counterparts do. And they want to see more of it in Ohio, a new state-wide poll of only Republicans and conservative independents has found. → Read More
Ohio's energy future cloudy at best, storms likely (video)
Ohio's energy policies are headed into stormy weather as the major utilities push for "re-regulation" of some sort while their unregulated competitors and green energy proponents fight to survive. → Read More