Commissioner voices optimism on future

Jerry Cirino cites developments at federal, state level as providing greater hope

In the battle to keep the Perry Nuclear Power Plant open, it seems like Lake County Commissioner Jerry Cirino has acted as field commander.

Ever since FirstEnergy Solutions announced its plans to close the North Perry Village plant, Cirino has played a visible and vocal role in working to ensure that the plant will keep operating, even if it’s under new ownership. Cirino has traveled to Washington to speak about the plant’s future with U.S. Energy Department officials, spoke at a Save the Perry Nuclear Power Plant rally, and tried to enlist the help of Ohio Gov. John Kasich in fighting for the plant’s survival.

Recently, Cirino spoke to a group with a keen interest in the future of the Perry Nuclear Power Plant — a gathering of Perry area elected officials and residents. Cirino gave an update on efforts to save the plant during a June 27 community meeting hosted by the Perry Economic Development Council.

“Probably the best way to summarize where we are at with this is for me to tell you that I am more optimistic than I have been anytime before,” Cirino said. “Now that’s not a guaranteed ticket to the bank … it’s just a feeling I get in studying the issue quite extensively and talking to a lot of people.”

Cirino has conducted much research and participated in many conversations since March 28,

when FirstEnergy Solutions announced its plans to close three of its nuclear power plants, including the Perry Nuclear Power Plant and Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station in Oak Harbor.

In a news release, Akron-based FirstEnergy Solutions stated that it notified PJM Interconnection, the regional transmission organization, that two of its Ohio nuclear power plants — Perry and Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station in Oak Harbor — and the Beaver Valley Power Station in Shippingport, Pennsylvania, will be deactivated in the next three years.

The plants are struggling to compete with the cheaper cost of natural gas, a previous News-Herald article stated.

FirstEnergy Solutions, a competitive generation subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp., said it plans to decommission Perry Nuclear Power Plant and Beaver Valley Nuclear Power Station in 2021; and Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station in 2020.

Three days after announcing the nuclear plant closings, FirstEnergy Solutions and FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

As for why Cirino feels particularly upbeat at this time, he said on June 27 he thinks solutions to save the Perry Nuclear Power Plant ultimately could come out of two distinct areas – the federal and state governments.

At the federal level, Cirino explained, nuclear power plants such as Perry could benefit if the U.S. secretary of energy decides to exercise his authority to unilaterally make a decision to invoke Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act. Cirino referred to a May 28 report from Bloomberg, which included a 41-page memo in which the U.S. Energy Department made its case not to close any nuclear- or coalpowered electric plants for two years, while a study is conducted to assess, and redefine, the resilience and reliability of the nation’s energy grid.

Section 202(c) has rarely been invoked in the past, but it can be done when U.S. energy policy needs to be reviewed on the basis on national security, Cirino said.

“The reason that redefining resilience and reliability is important is if you look at natural gas pipelines today, they are above ground and very vulnerable,” he said. “The definitions they have been using in the past are very, very old and don’t take into account terroristic threats we are dealing with today. The U.S. Department of Energy really needs to take time to study that.”

In conjunction with the order to conduct the twoyear study, the Energy Department would exercise emergency authority to direct grid operators to purchase electricity or electric generation capacity from nuclear and coal plants during that same study period, the Bloomberg report stated.

“It’s our hope and a feeling I have that by the end of this summer, Section 202(c) will be invoked, which would basically halt the decommissioning process and timing of three years for Perry and two years for Davis Besse,” Cirino said.

On the statewide political front, Cirino is hopeful that a new Ohio governor being elected in November will create a new and powerful ally who will actively join the fight to save the Perry Nuclear Power Plant.

“I have had discussion with candidates who might be governor come January, and they’re very supportive of the initiatives that were trying to do here (regarding the Perry plant’s future),” Cirino said.

Cirino expressed his disappointment with current Gov. John Kasich, whom he said has not been responsive to requests to help with the Perry Nuclear Power Plant’s plight.

Another source of optimism for the Perry plant’s future, Cirino said, comes from several developments related to the bankruptcy filing First Energy Solutions and First Energy Nuclear Operating Co.

Cirino said the judge in the bankruptcy case ordered parent company FirstEnergy Corp. to pay more than $800 million in pension liabilities and $600 million in unsecured debt that were on the books for FirstEnergy Solutions.

“So they’ve cleaned up their balance sheet a bit,” Cirino said. “The bankruptcy judge is also going to force them to get rid of assets that are not productive.”

While FirstEnergy wants to exit the nuclear power business, Cirino said he and other local elected officials and supporters ultimately would like to see the Perry plant sold and continue operating and serving the community.

“We want to make it more profitable so that we will attract a good buyer,” he said.