LAKEWOOD, Ohio — Lakewood residents are demanding accountability and financial relief from FirstEnergy following years of power outages, two Public Utilities Commission of Ohio investigations and a proposed $3 million civil penalty against the company.
The PUCO investigation resulted in a proposal that FirstEnergy pay the $3 million civil penalty and complete six corrective actions, while FirstEnergy responded to PUCO in August. This week, FirstEnergy sent a letter to customers apologizing for the outages and outlining its plans to improve reliability.
Lakewood resident Donn Nottage said the outages have taken a real toll.
"People lost money. People lost material. Businesses lost days of business, and we shouldn't be going through this," Nottage said.
Nottage said he has lost confidence in the company's ability to fix the problem, and now the situation has forced him to take matters into his own hands.
"I went out and bought these because I can't afford to take the risk anymore," Nottage said.
Nottage also pushed back on the company's proposal to raise rates.
"I'm recommending that FirstEnergy not ask for rate increases, but reimburse us through rate reductions over time to make things right," Nottage said.
FirstEnergy has proposed a three-year rate increase plan to PUCO. Ohio President Torrence Hinton said the rate plan is designed to build a more reliable system.
"When we think about the future state of the grid, we're not just trying to again replace things in kind, but how can we make the system more resilient? This three-year rate plan will allow us to do that, and we think that the investments we propose are thoughtful in terms of impact to our customers," Hinton said.
Hinton said the proposed rate increases would be modest for most customers. He also addressed the frustration residents feel about being asked to pay more after years of unreliable service.
"We've already taken action in the community of Lakewood in terms of addressing some of the immediate needs. We are working on a longer-term plan that we will provide first to our PUCO, and then we will share that with the mayor, as well as the residents of the community of Lakewood,” Hinton said.
He also pointed to an increase in major storm events as a factor in the reliability problems, saying the company has seen 28 major storm events this year compared to 10 in 2025.
As part of the three-year rate plan process, Hinton said PUCO would audit spending after each year to ensure accountability.
"As part of that process, our governing body, the PUCO, will have an opportunity to audit the spend after each single year, so that they can keep us honest, and people can know what we plan to spend it on is exactly where we spent it on, and if not, there will be adjustments," Hinton said.
On the question of reimbursements for customers who suffered losses, Hinton did not make a commitment.
"Again, we're working through a couple of things relative to the PUCO. I can't speak in terms of what may come in the future, but that's something that, of course, will be part of consideration as we think about how can we best continue to rebuild trust for the residents of Lakewood," Hinton said.
In a letter responding to PUCO's recommendations in August, Hinton proposed investing the $3 million forfeiture directly into the community rather than paying it to the state. When asked whether that money could go toward customer reimbursements, he left the door open.
"Again, that's something we're going to work through. So I don't want to get ahead of it. I will tell you this: I'm certainly a proponent of not having that funding go to the state. I think somehow it should have a benefit to the residents of the Lakewood community. Where that ends up will be part of a future process," Hinton said.
Hinton acknowledged the company has work to do to earn back the confidence of Lakewood residents.
"Trust is going to have to be built over time, and so in my letter I just shared with the residents of the Lakewood community, we're putting together plans. But I'm going to ask you to trust me and the organization based on actual results, and we're going to have to build that over time," Hinton said.
For Nottage and many of his neighbors, words are no longer enough.
"We need solid, solid action," Nottage said.
Nadeen Abusada is a Cuyahoga County and immigration reporter at News 5 Cleveland. Follow her on Instagram NadeenAbusada or email her at Nadeen.Abusada@wews.com.
