LAKEWOOD, Ohio — Lakewood residents say power outages have become a nuisance, and city officials are now demanding FirstEnergy follow through on its commitments after state regulators stepped in once again.
The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio opened another investigation into FirstEnergy after constant power outages across the area. PUCO issued a notice of probable non-compliance, proposing a $3 million civil forfeiture and outlining six corrective actions. FirstEnergy then responded Friday with a 6-page letter outlining its plans.
In the letter, the company says major upgrades are underway to modernize the system rather than simply replacing old infrastructure. It plans additional actions through October, including equipment analysis, underground cable inspections, system upgrades, and monthly outage reporting to PUCO. The company also says it plans to improve outage communications.
But Lakewood Mayor Meghan George says after years of complaints and two separate investigations, words are not enough.
"It's hard to believe anything that FirstEnergy says. So what our job and what we're doing at the city is we're looking at keeping the pressure on them," George said.
In the letter, FirstEnergy proposed investing the $3 million forfeiture directly into the community rather than paying it to the state, a proposal George supports.
"I'd also put it a step further—is if there's a way that we can support small businesses and residents who are out thousands of dollars, whether it be food, medication, what have you," George said.
George does not, however, support FirstEnergy's decision to disable automatic estimated restoration times. The company said it will provide ETRs after crews identify the problem, assess the damage, and estimate how long repairs will take.
"People need to know that. So this FirstEnergy really needs to step up the communication to its customers," George said.
Councilman Tom Bullock told us FirstEnergy CEO Brian Tierney told him at an event last week that Lakewood's aging electric distribution grid ultimately needs to be replaced altogether; then came the 6-page letter.
"It's not unreasonable for them to say time to get a whole new, upgraded, better car that can do more by analogy, right? But that's going to cost money, and that's the frustrating part about what happened to money we've already paid for the last 15, 20 years," Bullock said.
FirstEnergy has also proposed a three-year rate increase plan to PUCO, saying those investments would help improve the grid. Both Bullock and George oppose the increase.
"I want them to see them live up to what they're saying, verbally and in writing, that they take it seriously," Bullock said.
George echoed that skepticism.
"How is this company going to increase rates when they can't even provide reliable power in the first place?" George said.
FirstEnergy says it is committed to providing reliable power. City officials say they plan to keep holding the company accountable and will not hesitate to go back to PUCO if outages continue.
"Absolutely, absolutely. We will continue to request that PUCO open additional investigations as long as the power outages continue," George said.
