Columbus, Ohio – Ohio Governor Ted Strickland today issued the following statement:

“Ohioans were well-served by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio today.  Because of our efforts last year to restructure electricity in Ohio through SB 221, the PUCO administered an open-market energy auction to determine the electric rates for FirstEnergy customers in northern Ohio.  The auction will result in rate-cuts for residential and business consumers of FirstEnergy-provided electricity.  Had we failed to act to ensure commission oversight of energy rates nearly one year ago, Ohioans could be paying more for the same energy at a time when most have few resources to spare.”