FirstEnergy CEO wants Ohio to end deregulation, but AEP boss says not so fast
The new leader of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) would re-regulate Ohio’s electric industry “in a heartbeat” if he could. American Electric Power Company Inc.’s chief executive won’t go that far.
Chuck Jones, CEO of Akron-based FirstEnergy, told Cleveland.com the deregulation of the industry that began in earnest at the start of the millennium was a mistake. FirstEnergy was perhaps the biggest proponent of moving away from state-controlled regulation to a competitive retail market but the industry is much different now than even five years ago, largely because of the rising abundance of natural gas instead of coal.
FirstEnergy and American Electric (NYSE:AEP) both have pivotal proposals in front of state regulators to guarantee income for their Ohio coal-fired power plants.
