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The Clifty Creek power station is in Madison, Ind.; Kyger Creek is in Cheshire, in Southern Ohio near the West Virginia border.
Owned by the Ohio Valley Electric Corp. — in which Dayton Power & Light has a small ownership stake — the plants were built in the 1950s to help power uranium enrichment by the Atomic Energy Commission. Since the early 2000s, the plants have been offering power on the wholesale electricity market.
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“Ohio should be working toward converting low prices in the natural gas market into lower electric bills for Ohioans, not increasing electric bills to subsidize mid-20th century power plants,” Michael Haugh, an analyst for the consumer counsel’s office, said in testimony before the Ohio Senate this week.
A message seeking comment was left with State Sen. Bill Beagle, R-Tipp City, chairman of the Senate Public Utilities Committee.
According to the consumer counsel’s office, the subsidy the bill would enact would create a charge on a “subset” of consumers — those on utilities’ “standard service offers” — about $6.64 per month, or about $80 a year and about $1,700, all for a total of 22 years.
From 2000 to 2017, the utilities received $15.7 billion of “above-market charges” or subsidies and are now seeking an estimated additional $300 million per year for the life of the plants, said Ryan Augsburger, a spokesman for the Ohio Manufacturers Association.
“Clearly, it’s time to put a lid on the cookie jar,” Augsburger said.
A message was left with a Dayton Power & Light spokeswoman.
Senate Bill 155 is scheduled for a third hearing at 9 a.m. next Thursday before the Senate Public Utilities committee, according to Senate GOP staff.
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