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Environmental Group Exposes FirstEnergy Hypocrisy on Clean Energy in Newly Launched Digital Ads

Ohio Environmental Council, March 9, 2016

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Brian Kaiser, Director of Public Relations (614) 487-5837 or bkaiser@theoec.org

March 9, 2016

COLUMBUS, OH – The Ohio Environmental Council is calling out FirstEnergy in a digital ad campaign, criticizing the company’s inaccurate portrayal of itself as a champion of clean energy and the environment.  The digital ads come on the heels of a proposal FirstEnergy has before Ohio regulators that would subsidize its old, dirty power plants, a deal that multiple sources conclude will end up costing its customers an extra $130 per year on their utility bills.

“The difference between what FirstEnergy says and what they are doing to derail Ohio’s progress towards a cleaner energy future is night-and-day.” said Trish Demeter, Director of Energy at the Ohio Environmental Council. “The company is grasping at the good old days when coal was king, and customers weren’t clued in enough to see this so-called “green” initiative for what it really is – a bait and switch.”

The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) is set to vote on the proposal in the coming weeks. In advance of the vote, FirstEnergy has launched a public relations campaign to greenwash the dirty truth about their past and their plans for the future.  FirstEnergy’s marketing campaign claims they are changing with the times, and leading the way toward a clean energy future but the reality is their proposal will lock Ohio’s energy industry squarely in the past.

FirstEnergy, along with several other Ohio utilities (AEP and Dayton Power & Light) are looking for a reprieve on bad bets they made on coal by forcing customers to pick up the tab on expensive, aging plants. If these cases are approved by the PUCO, Ohioans will be on the hook for at least eight years of asthma-inducing and climate change causing pollution. If the cases are rejected, those plants likely be retired and replaced with cleaner and more efficient resources.

To learn more about FirstEnergy’s proposed settlement and its numerous shortcomings, visit our One Ohio Blog.

View the website action page here.

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