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Commercial and industrial customers of FirstEnergy have the opportunity to receive a cash rebate for energy efficiency project investments completed after 2008

FirstEnergy is mandated by Ohio Law Amended Substitute Senate Bill 221 to show improved energy efficiency through reductions in energy demand beginning in 2009, with escalating reductions in energy demand required by 2025. To satisfy these efficiency standards, FirstEnergy wants to leverage the energy efficiency projects of its commercial and industrial customers to ensure its compliance. For this program, energy efficiency is defined as those projects that reduce the consumption of energy while maintaining or improving the level of functionality.

Customers can earn $0.06 per kilowatt-hour of annual savings, up to $500,000 per year, per utility. Instead of the rebate, customers may receive an exemption from upcoming utility bill fees under the Demand Side Management and Energy Efficiency Rider (DSE2), which charges customers an additional cost per kilowatt-hour to recover the costs associated with peak demand reduction and energy efficiency programs. Projects that reduce energy consumption and that are completed after January 1, 2008, including current projects, may qualify for this rebate program. Eligible projects include, but are not limited to:

• Low-voltage tungsten halogen fixtures
• Replacement windows
• Energy efficient motors
• High efficiency HVAC equipment installations
• Process improvements, i.e., product line efficiencies

FirstEnergy has appointed Roth Brothers, Inc. of Youngstown, Ohio (Roth) as one of several administrators of its Energy Efficiency Program. A FirstEnergy customer who wishes to utilize Roth's services in that capacity must submit its project application to Roth, who will review and streamline the documentation required to verify energy savings. There is no cost to a FirstEnergy customer to use Roth as its administrator. Decisions are made by FirstEnergy within 60 days of receipt of the application documents.

Once a project is accepted, the customer will be required to log information about the project's energy efficiency savings. Energy savings will be measured in the number of megawatt-hours saved, based on predetermined values for the type of technology used, calculations used for typical equipment or engineering studies. This information will be provided to FirstEnergy and included in the aggregate in FirstEnergy's annual report to the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.

Click here for additional details as provided by Roth and FirstEnergy.

For More Information

For more information on the program's requirements, please contact Scott Meli at dsmeli@rothbros.com.

Our lawyers can provide insight on the PUCO rules and SB 221 implementation issues.

Please contact Michael J. Zimmer or any member of our Energy practice group for more information.

Disclosure

This advisory may be reproduced, in whole or in part, with the prior permission of Thompson Hine LLP and acknowledgement of its source and copyright. This publication is intended to inform clients about legal matters of current interest. It is not intended as legal advice. Readers should not act upon the information contained in it without professional counsel. This document may be considered attorney advertising in some jurisdictions.