“The dismissal was the result of negotiations with the defendants, the court’s ruling in our favor, and the partial repeal of HB 6,” said Andrew Garth, city solicitor for Cincinnati.
The Dec. 2 dismissal does not include any admission of wrongdoing by FirstEnergy or Energy Harbor. The joint filing was made “with prejudice,” meaning the cities cannot bring the same claims against the companies at a later time.
“The city’s claims were essentially resolved in December 2020 when the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas granted our motion to enjoin FirstEnergy and (Energy) Harbor from collecting the illegitimate fees that were authorized by House Bill 6,” Garth explained. “Additionally, the Ohio General Assembly subsequently passed legislation repealing the portions of HB 6 that were the basis for the city’s claims.”
Those portions were the ratepayer subsidies for two nuclear plants now run by Energy Harbor, which was formerly a FirstEnergy subsidiary known as FirstEnergy Solutions.
“Our lawsuit had the specific purpose of stopping FirstEnergy from collecting the rider payment that would have cost Columbus ratepayers $25 million,” said Meredith Tucker, a spokesperson for the city attorney’s office. “We won the suit, therefore they are not able to collect that money.”
The cities also will receive money to reimburse some of the lawyers’ fees and other litigation costs, Garth and Tucker noted.
