The Public Utility Commission of Ohio says the state's electricity customers have paid $679 million dollars to subsidize two unprofitable coal plants over the past ten years.
That's because coal is more expensive now than natural gas, wind, and solar.
Ohio state law currently has no mechanism for shutting the coal plants down. Tom Bullock is head of the Citizens Utility Board of Ohio, an advocacy group.
"These plants are 70 years old," he said. "They are literally the oldest in the nation. It's one thing if you can pay for yourself on the free market, but its another entirely different question if the only way you can stay open is to pass your losses along to customers."
Bullock said the amount of the subsidy so far is bad enough, but said the projections are worse.
"There could be as much as $1.1 billion by 2030, and without a legal change the subsidies could be extended beyond 2030," he said.
Senate Bill 2 and House Bill 15 would end the ability of the three Ohio utilities which jointly own the coal plants, operating as OVEC, to pass on the subsidy to electricity customers. Bullock urged the Ohio legislature to pass the bills.
Owners Duke Energy, American Electric Power, and AES-Ohio have not yet responded to a request for comment.
Michigan has closed most of its coal plants. Three are left. Consumers Energy is scheduled to close its last coal-burning plant, J.H. Campbell, in May of this year.
DTE Energy plans to convert its coal burning units at Belle River to gas peaker plants in 2025 and 2026. It plans to shutter its massive coal-burning facility in Monroe in 2032. Monroe is the number three top producer of electricity plant emissions in the nation, according to EPA and US EIA data.
A report by the Natural Resource Defense Council in 2024 said Michigan's two largest utilities operated their coal plants at a loss for "extended" periods of time."
DTE criticized the report for lacking "supporting evidence" and "ignoring the physical operating characteristics of coal plants."
Consumers Energy pointed to its aggressive work to close the last of its coal plants in 2025.
