FirstEnergy Solutions’ (FES) nuclear power plant in Akron, Ohio needs a taxpayer funded bailout according to the company.

It is hoping that the Ohio Senate will pass a bill similar to the recently passed House bailout bill, HB 6. The bill has been amended by the Senate and would give FES $150 million annually in subsidies. This is outrageous.

FES initially said it needed the bailout passed by June 30 or it would be forced to close. That date came and went without passage of a bill, so FES then said it would need a subsidy by July 17 – which happens to be today. This time, the Ohio Senate blinked in this game of political chicken.

Substitute HB 6 passed out of the Senate’s energy and public utilities committee this afternoon by a vote of 9-4. The bill is now headed to the full Ohio Senate for a vote later this evening. This new draft adds up to $20 million in subsidies for solar energy and $450 million for coal. If passed, the bill will need to go through a House and Senate conference committee before it reaches the governor’s desk.

This taxpayer funded bailout will raise monthly bills ranging from around $1 for residential customers all the way up to $2,400 for the largest companies in the area. This huge additional charge could cause some of these larger employers to leave the Buckeye State. This bailout could cost Ohio valuable jobs.

 FES is trying to emerge from Chapter 11 reorganization, and they expect Ohio taxpayers to bail them out after poor business decisions. The Ohio Senate is on the brink of giving in.