LAKEWOOD, Ohio — Heat is important during a week with temperatures below freezing. But after multiple outages in Lakewood, residents fear losing the power needed to keep their homes warm, even though First Energy says it is working to fix the problem.
Every day, Cheyenne Burke worries her power will go out again, this time staying out longer than before.
“Oh, the past month, I would say, almost 10 time, like I said, a couple a week at this point,” Burke continued, “Like, who's going to help us out when, you know, we are freezing in our homes.”
Burke has lived in Lakewood her entire life, but never has losing power been such a constant issue, affecting her work, her daughter, and her peace of mind.
“We're all just kind of nervous. I think we're all just kind of living on edge a little bit, you know what I mean? I’m just kind of like how waiting for it to go out again,” said Burke.
Lakewood Council Member Cindy Strebig has experienced the outages, too and has gotten multiple calls from residents about them.
“Yeah, they're concerned. People are concerned, you know, especially folks that are seniors, are that are responsible for seniors,” said Strebig.
She says she contacted First Energy the first time it occurred in December, and it appeared to be a one-off. But now, after multiple outages, she and the city mayor are searching for answers.
“Now it's not a one-off anymore. There's something going on, so we're asking more questions,” said Stebig.
First Energy tells News 5 that outages in the southern part of Lakewood have impacted more than 1,000 residents. The company states that, aside from August, when historic tornadoes impacted the power, there were four separate incidents:
• Dec. 10: The outage lasted three hours due to equipment issues.
• Dec. 29: The outage lasted seven minutes due to wind and snow.
• Jan. 4: The outage lasted 15 minutes due to equipment issues.
• Jan. 7: The outage lasted 50 minutes due to equipment issues.
First Energy adds that all incidents involved the same piece of equipment. On Tuesday, the company said it was installing a new breaker to fix the problem.
The company issued the following statement.
"We understand being without power is difficult—especially in these frigid conditions. The outages were caused by an equipment issue within a local substation. Our crews have identified the precise issue, and they are replacing a breaker within the facility to help prevent related outages in the future. We appreciate our customers’ patience while our crews complete this work today to enhance service reliability in their community."
To Joe Meadows, another Lakewood resident, it’s frustrating every time he wakes up by the sounds of his home powering back up, calling it inconvenient.
“All of a sudden, like, the sound machine kicks back on, and then you'll hear like beeping from, like the Alexa devices and everything else. So, it's kind of a little awkward,” said Joe Meadows.
He continued, “I think most people would tell you, we just want to be able to see that the power is back on and that it's consistent.”
As for Burke, until she is confident the problem is fixed, she’s prepared to pull out her generator at any moment.
“I have some neighbors that we’re going to call. We're going to bundle in my house, and we're all going to pitch in for gas,” Burke said.
Strebig says if you experience an outage, contact your energy provider immediately.
