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2/19/2016
3:55 PM
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VOL. 37, NO. 8
FEBRUARY 22 - 28, 2016
Business of Life
TV: Cavs are monster draw Team, Fox Sports Ohio on record pace
Mixed martial arts
P. 4-5
Strong Style thrives by bulking up its offerings
REAL ESTATE: Key deal? Towering building could be sold soon
P. 24-25
P. 6
CLEVELAND BUSINESS
RETAIL: Vacancies on rise But local industry stays optimistic P. 7
Welcome to the energy battle of Ohio
NEO’s largest retirement communities P. 31
Each side is sure the Public Utility Commission of Ohio will rule in its favor, but only one can win
BY DAN SHINGLER
H
The List
ello, fight fans.
SCOTT POLLACK
And welcome to the heavyweight battle of the modern era at Ohio Energy Regulation Arena. The matchup is sure to be a bruiser, and both corners say they’re confident they can win the huge purse represented by Northeast Ohio’s future electric rates. There are hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars at stake, and one way or another, most area businesses and residents will be guarantors for the prize money. In the blue corner, weighing in with 2,000 good-paying Akron-area jobs, 6 million customers and $52 billion in company assets — from Akron, Ohio, the successor to Ohio Edison, Centerior Energy and Cleveland Electric Illuminating, and a powerhouse with 17,000 megawatts of generating capacity: FirstEnergy Corp. In the green corner, fighting for the health of the planet, the economy, Ohio ratepayers and the future of all mankind — backed by a body of out-ofstate generators, muscular transmission arms, free marketers and environmentalists: The Opposition. Yes, this is about as exciting as Public Utility Commission of Ohio cases get — and if you’re not buying a ticket to see whether FirstEnergy gets its requested rate guarantee from the PUCO, then you’re missing out on some action that’s bound to affect you later. SEE ENERGY RATES, PAGE 9
GCP and COSE settling in BY JAY MILLER Entire contents © 2016 by Crain Communications Inc. jmiller@crain.com @millerjh
Boxes littered the offices and cubicles of the third floor of the Playhouse Square headquarters of the Greater Cleveland Partnership and the Council of Smaller Enterprises last week as staff prepared for a new floor plan that will bring together COSE and GCP units that have oper-
ated separately for several decades. The first wave of moves was scheduled to begin Friday, Feb. 19. Over the next several weeks, nearly everyone’s office location will change as the two joined-at-the-hip business advocacy and business service groups continue to search for a winning strategy in the face of a steep, decade-long membership and revenue decline at COSE. The organization’s leadership will discuss the changes, which have
been underway for several months, at the COSE annual meeting Feb. 24 at the Near West Theatre in the Gordon Square arts district. Members will hear how COSE is being folded more closely into GCP. They will hear about a strategy that envisions the consolidated organization focusing more on advocating public policy positions at the local, state and federal levels — a GCP strong suit — than on selling the SEE GCP, PAGE 28