BARBERTON, Ohio — Residents in a Summit County community have reached a boiling point.
They are sick and tired of their power repeatedly going out, costing them stress and lost wages.
Now, some Barberton City Council members are working to hold First Energy accountable.
Councilman at Large Thomas "Bebe" Heitic says they've had an extraordinary amount of outages in May and June.
He says it's the worst it's ever been, in his decades of living in town.
He counted at least a dozen outages, some of which lasted for more than a day at a time.
"In the last two and a half months, we've had more (outages) than the 17 years I've lived at my house combined. I've lived in the city for 45 years. And I don't ever remember it being this bad," Heitic said.
He is demanding FirstEnergy take corrective action.
Heitic is now spearheading legislation that would require First Energy to give every residential account ratepayer a $100 credit to compensate for the inconveniences and losses.
He claims the company has blamed bird nests, bad weather and trees for the repeated outages.
"Their infrastructure is just failed to be invested in. Fixing up, upgrading, just all sorts of complications that we're feeling that First Energy has basically gotten a pass and has not done anything about. It's unacceptable," Heitic said.
Heitic says residents have thrown out spoiled food from their freezers and refrigerators, canceled events, and cannot work from home, having been forced to alter their lives due to the stress and overall outages.
For seniors who rely on oxygen and medical devices, he says this is a dire issue.
News 5 reached out to FirstEnergy for comment regarding this situation.
A spokesperson told us:
"We remain dedicated to providing a positive customer experience and reliable service. While not every outage can be prevented, we continue to pursue investment opportunities to limit their duration and impact and we have presented our plans to city council."
In addition, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio told the mayor and council members that it has launched an investigation into these events and is processing additional information.
Heitic says Barberton City Council is set to vote on the reimbursement of funds on July 28.
News 5 promises to Follow-Through on the latest developments.
