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SOPEC Responds To What SOPEC Terms "Embellished Mudslinging" By NOPEC
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Southeast Ohio Public Energy Council d/b/a Sustainable Ohio Public Energy Council (SOPEC) filed a response to the motion to intervene filed by the Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council (NOPEC) in the PUC of Ohio proceeding addressing the application of SOPEC for an electric broker license (distinct from SOPEC's governmental aggregation authority)
In such response, SOPEC alleges that NOPEC's motion contained, "embellished mudslinging".
As previously reported, NOPEC alleged, among other things, that SOPEC's operations as a broker outside of areas in which SOPEC is the community's selected government aggregator would create customer confusion, with NOPEC requesting that PUCO deny SOPEC’s request to provide power brokerage services to residential customers (see more details here)
SOPEC stated that NOPEC's stated concerns on customer confusion are now moot given that, as previously reported, SOPEC filed an updated broker application in which SOPEC is not seeking authority to serve residential customers
Additionally, while NOPEC had in a narrative included concerns about marketing to small commercial customers, NOPEC's filing only specifically sought that PUCO deny SOPEC’s request to provide power brokerage services to residential customers. SOPEC further said that NOPEC's filing included language stating that, "NOPEC does not take a position on SOPEC’s potential
provision of power brokerage services to industrial, commercial, or mercantile customers."
SOPEC alleged that NOPEC's motion is, "an
inappropriate attempt by NOPEC, as a competitor of SOPEC, to malign SOPEC in the eyes of the public and the Commission[.]"
SOPEC alleged, "NOPEC has no interest in the present proceeding because the Commission’s granting of
SOPEC’s Application does not impact NOPEC’s ability to perform brokerage services or function
as a governmental aggregator. In fact, permitting NOPEC’s participation as an intervenor to review
SOPEC’s financial capabilities and allegedly to 'protect residential consumers from confusion'
would invite the exact opposite effect, allowing NOPEC, as a competitor and market participant, to masquerade as a regulator, a role that is exclusive to the Commission."
NOPEC had also alleged that, in SOPEC's original application, "SOPEC chose to submit its financial statements under seal. SOPEC did so even though: (1) its most recent final financial audit by the Ohio Auditor of State ('Auditor') is publicly available on the Auditor’s website and (2) SOPEC’s financial statements are non-confidential public records."
SOPEC said that, while such financial statements are public records, "Ohio’s Public Record Act does not require that such public records be filed and available on the
Commission’s docket."
SOPEC said, "The law only requires public entities to promptly prepare and make
available for inspection a public record upon request by any person. See R.C. 149.43(B)(1). This
requirement does not confer a responsibility on a public entity to file their financial information
on the Commission’s public docket".
SOPEC alleged, "It is also customary for CRES applicants to file their financial information under seal. In
fact, NOPEC, in its recent application to the Commission requesting to operate as a power broker,
also chose to file its financial forecast under seal without making a motion for a protective order."
Case 26-48-EL-AGG
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February 11, 2026
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Copyright 2026 EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com
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