PUC of Ohio
Dan Conway is a Commissioner at the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.
In discussions with ten Commissioners from every end of the country, PUF's Paul Kjellander in late July asked about what's driving the energy transition in their states, their state's policies, barriers for the transition to overcome, and risks, also the role of consumer-owned energy.
PUF's Paul Kjellander: What are the primary reasons driving the energy transition for utilities in the State of Ohio?
Commissioner Dan Conway: Ohio is no longer vertically integrated. Our electric utilities began their restructuring journey in 2001 as a result of state legislation, which required electric utilities to exit the generation business. Generation services are subject to competition at the retail level in Ohio, and consumers choose their generation supplier on a competitive basis.
We have a default service supply for those who don't choose their supplier. The default service option is procured through a competitive wholesale process, so it ends up having a similar result, which is a competitive basis for the supply that serves them.
Ohio is a choice state. The investor-owned utilities in Ohio were required to join regional transmission organizations and transfer operational control, planning, and oversight of their transmission facilities to the RTO.