|
Thanks to you,
Friend,
Ohioans won a victory today as the
Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB) nixed a provision viewed as a "poison
pill" to block the Icebreaker Wind Farm
project.
The "feathering" provision would have
shut down turbines from dusk to dawn most of the year, rendering the
project economically unviable. Although the board's move is not final,
it's a critical lifeline for Icebreaker project developer Lake Erie
Energy Development Corp.
The unanimous vote
included a "Yea" from OPSB chairman Sam Randazzo to remove the
provision he previously championed. The motion to remove the poison
pill was offered by an ally of Governor DeWine -- I think your
letters to the governor had the desired effect -- and won a
critical victory for renewal energy in Ohio.
Ohio Consumers Power
Alliance launched a campaign four weeks ago
encouraging Ohioans to speak out against Sam Randazzo and demand Gov.
Mike DeWine remove him from the PUCO for his anti-renewable energy
bias. After this vote, we're guessing both Governor DeWine and Mr.
Randazzo are feeling the heat.
Almost 1,500
people like you wrote to Governor DeWine and he
listened!
Yesterday’s decision by the Ohio Power
Siting Board moves forward a project that will add 500 jobs and $253
million in economic development in Ohio. Look what we
can accomplish together.
On Wednesday Mr. Randazzo in
his role as PUCO chairman was called to testify before the House
Select Committee on Energy and Oversight on HB6, just as news broke
that about a Securities and Exchange Commission
investigation of FirstEnergy. The investigation
centers on a FirstEnergy whistleblower who downloaded 57 files
containing sensitive information, including employee salaries, payment
processes, records of contractors and vendors and approvals of manual
wires and tax payments.
Mr Randazzo declined to
disclose what the potential penalties would be for FirstEnergy if
violations are found, saying such talk can affect stock prices.
Adding to Randazzo's worries, the PUCO is also
under investigation by the Ohio Consumers Counsel to determine
if FirstEnergy used ratepayer money
to pass the corrupt
HB6 .
We will keep doing our part
to get you the information you need to hold decision makers like
Randazzo accountable. Please do your part to keep our citizen-funded
campaign victories possible.
Next up, Repeal
HB6!
Rachael
Belz
Executive
Director, Ohio Citizen
Action
http://www.ohiocitizen.org/
p.s. If you haven't yet, please tell your legislator
to repeal HB6.
|
