Citizen Power Will Oppose the FirstEnergy Purchase of GPU

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>]

Citizen Power Will Oppose the FirstEnergy Purchase of GPU
The Plan is Anti-competitive, FirstEnergy Must First Join an RTO
  
PITTSBURGH, Aug. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Citizen Power, a regional 
watchdog organization, announced today that it intends to oppose the 
purchase of General Public Utilities (GPU) by FirstEnergy (FE), and 
calls on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to protect 
Ohio and Pennsylvania ratepayers from FE's attempt to control the 
regional market. 

Citizen Power has worked for years to prevent increases in market 
control that allow utilities to keep out competitors in the regional 
market.  That is the reason Citizen Power successfully opposed the 
acquisition of Duquesne Light Company by Allegheny Energy, is still 
fighting the Ohio Edison-Centerior merger at the FERC, and is 
opposing the FE transition plan at the Public Utilities Commission of 
Ohio (PUCO).  "The western Pennsylvania retail electricity market is 
flat and this planned buyout by FE would only help to insure that no 
competition occurs in this region for a long time," said David 
Hughes, Executive Director of Citizen Power. 

"For over two years, FE has refused to put its transmission system 
under the control of an independent operator.  If FE is allowed to 
buy GPU without a requirement to give up control of its transmission 
lines, competitors cannot survive in the regional market," Hughes 
said.  "We will oppose this merger in the appropriate regulatory 
bodies to force FE to join a fully independent Regional Transmission 
Organization." 

In addition, Citizen Power is very concerned that northern Ohio 
ratepayers, who have just been socked by the PUCO for FE's $9 billion 
in "stranded" costs, are footing the bill for this plan to sell FE 
generating capacity to customers in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.  
"Now we know where those billions are going," said Hughes.  "Citizen 
Power is concerned that FE may not pass on any sales revenues from 
the GPU territory to its northern Ohio customers," Hughes said.  "FE 
will likely give all the goodies to its shareholders and its 
ratepayers will continue footing the bill for its bad $10 billion 
nuclear investment."  

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Sandy Perle					Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100   				    	
Director, Technical				Extension 2306 				     	
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Division		Fax:(714) 668-3149 	                   		    
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