Asim Haque, an executive at PJM Interconnection, this week presented informational testimony before the Ohio Senate Energy and Public Utilities Committee. PJM’s data provides a more accurate understanding of the new costs facing electric ratepayers under House Bill 6, as passed by the House last week. Moreover, PJM’s modeled scenarios demonstrate how HB 6 will stunt new investment in natural gas generation and increase energy market costs. Even though the PJM modeling examined only the wholesale market — and not the increased costs spurred by changes to the capacity auction — it still shows that ratepayers would experience a net increase in electricity costs due to the subsidies proposed by the nuclear bailout legislation. A spokesperson for Ohio’s residential consumer advocate, the Office of the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel, interpreted PJM’s data by saying, “Consumers in the region would save more than $1.5 billion in 2023 alone if the nuclear plants in Ohio and Pennsylvania are shut down and expected new, efficient power plants are built. PJM’s findings for consumer savings from power plant competition confirm that a competitive generation market is better for millions of Ohio consumers (as opposed to) charging them for bailouts and subsidies under HB 6.” 6/6/2019