OCC Annual Report 2021

Highlights

• OCC again served as the voice of millions of Ohio residential utility consumers, calling for consumer protections in more than 130 cases before the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Ohio Supreme Court.
   
• OCC and its advocacy partners continued to call for PUCO reform, including reform of the selection of commissioners. The real measure for commissioner selection reform is appointments of bona fide consumer advocates to the PUCO.
   
• OCC continued its tireless advocacy to protect consumers with truth and justice regarding the FirstEnergy scandals involving House Bill 6 and the PUCO. That advocacy includes seeking answers in investigations of FirstEnergy in PUCO cases and seeking repeal of the coal power plant bailout for AEP, Duke and AES in House Bill 6. H.B. 6 subsidies for nuclear plants and decoupling were repealed.
   
• OCC presented testimony to the General Assembly 16 times on 10 separate legislative bills. Six testimonies related to repeals of House Bill 6.
   
• OCC, the Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council and others negotiated for two million consumers in a high-stakes dispute involving FirstEnergy’s charges to consumers for too-high profits. Under the resulting major settlement (that was approved), FirstEnergy will refund $306 million to consumers through 2025.
   
• OCC negotiated for 1.3 million residential consumers in a case that AEP filed seeking a rate increase. The resulting (approved) settlement obtained by OCC and others eliminated the residential rate increase (with even a slight rate decrease), saving AEP consumers $110 million per year over AEP’s proposed increase.
   
• OCC negotiated for 400,000 residential natural gas consumers in cases involving Duke Energy. The resulting settlement, which resolved several cases (and is awaiting a PUCO decision), will protect consumers regarding energy marketing, the clean-up of polluted manufactured gas plant sites, corporate tax charges that Duke must return to consumers, and $3.8 million for at-risk consumers including low-income and seniors.
   
• OCC and its advocacy partners sought “energy justice” in filings to protect at-risk consumers during the health and financial crises. OCC partnered with legal aid agencies and low-income advocates to seek consumer protections from utility disconnections.
   
• OCC’s appeal led to the Ohio Supreme Court overturning a PUCO decision on charges to Suburban Natural Gas consumers. The Court found that the PUCO had improperly allowed Suburban to charge consumers for certain costs related to a pipeline that OCC asserted was longer than needed (to be “used and useful”) for consumers’ service.
   
• OCC’s Outreach & Education team increased their number of outreach events by more than 20 percent over 2020, for a total of 831, by seeking out virtual presentation opportunities. The events are for helping consumers, and those aiding consumers, regarding their utility services.
   
• OCC developed in 2021 a list of three nominees for the Governor’s appointment of the public member on the Ohio Power Siting Board, per R.C. 4906.02(A). Consumers’ Counsel Bruce Weston sent the list to the Governor in early January 2022.