The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission clarified last week that its April 2013 order approving American Electric Power’s Ohio restructuring plan does not preempt a court challenge by industrial customers.
The April order approved AEP affiliate Ohio Power’s request to transfer its generating units and related assets to AEP Generation at net book value, following a similar approval by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.
The Industrial Energy Users-Ohio, an association of large Ohio-based energy users, asked FERC to rehear the case, saying that AEP failed to meet FERC’s Ameren precedent and demonstrate that the net book price did not subsidize AEP Generation at the expense of Ohio Power’s customers.
In last week’s order (EC13-26-001), FERC denied the rehearing request but specified that its action was not intended to pre-empt the industrials’ challenge, which is currently pending before the Ohio Supreme Court. FERC noted that it has not required fact finding under its Ameren precedent for intra-corporate generation transfers at net book value that comply with state restructuring initiatives.
