Ohio town voices opposition to electricity choice limitations

Dissatisfaction with Ohio's half-hearted electricity deregulation policies continues to mount as one town made their complaints official.

The Mount Vernon News reports that on Monday, November 14, the Mount Vernon City Council passed a formal resolution of protest against the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio's approval of caps on consumer's choice of electricity providers.

Like many other states, Ohio has been steadily working toward a competitive electricity market for several years, but the state has limited the proportion of the residents who can switch electricity providers from the traditional utility companies.

The argument behind this has been to ensure stability for the utilities who still provide the majority of electricity, but five of the six Mount Vernon city councilors argue that it ultimately amounts to little more than a handout to Ohio utility companies like American Electric Power.

The Public Utilities Commission reports that one utility company has seen nearly 75 percent of its customers change electricity providers with another two above 64 percent, but Ohio Power Company has only seen 0.4 percent of all its customer explore other options.