LAKEWOOD, Ohio — For months, News 5 has been reporting on the repeated power outages affecting residents in both Lakewood and Barberton.
Now, the communities are joining forces and pushing back against FirstEnergy.
They're demanding the power company be held accountable in its ongoing talks with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.
Residents and business owners have expressed immense frustration over the impact of outages on them.
They say there is no reason why they continue to lose power so frequently for extended periods, and they're now even more upset about FirstEnergy trying to lower its standards.
This week, the cities of Lakewood and Barberton filed a joint motion to intervene in a case involving FirstEnergy's reliability standards with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.
In short, the motion states that FirstEnergy is trying to lower its obligations to the public.
Lakewood and Barberton hope to now be included in discussions with the company and the PUCO so they can provide input on a permanent fix.
“Frankly, given FirstEnergy’s abject failure to meet its existing duties and provide safe reliable power to Lakewood residents over the past year, it’s ridiculous that FirstEnergy is asking PUCO for even less responsibility. The people of Lakewood and others across Ohio need FirstEnergy to do its job, maintain its infrastructure, and ensure that we all have consistent supply of power rather than push for weaker standards. FirstEnergy needs more oversight from PUCO, not less," Meghan George, City of Lakewood Mayor, said.
“It is essential that residents and businesses have reliable service which is directly related to everything we do; safety, health, wellbeing, and the viability of every aspect of our lives. While FirstEnergy is asking PUCO for lower standards, we need the current standards to be met and improved upon. Maintaining high standards, creating a plan for the future, and committing to that plan is crucial moving forward. It’s 2025 and power outages of this frequency and magnitude should not be happening," William Judge, City of Barberton Mayor, said.
It comes after several power outages this past winter and summer forced businesses to shut down for days.
RELATED: Power outages persist in Lakewood and Cleveland, prompting state action and public outcry
Residents were forced to throw out food, and some experienced health issues due to the interruptions.
"The city is taking this matter extremely seriously. I'm not exaggerating when I say that these power outages are life and death matters. We've gotten calls about people running out of oxygen, stuck in elevators, having to throw out food at fixed incomes. That is just simply unacceptable in this day and age. The city is working hard," George said.
This all follows George and other local lawmakers petitioning the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio to investigate the chronic power outages in Lakewood.
News 5 was there as Lakewood community members attended a heated meeting with FirstEnergy, where the company promised to invest more than $12 million toward improvements.
"This was an important step for our communities to continue to hold FirstEnergy accountable for their continued lack of improvements in their infrastructure—going back decades. That's why we're seeing what we are seeing," George said.
The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio issued a six-page notice of Probable Non-Compliance to FirstEnergy.
It highlighted a combination of failure to notify residents about outages, aging infrastructure and poor-performing circuits.
FirstEnergy released the following statement:
"We are making a significant investment of more than $3 billion through 2029 to strengthen Ohio’s electric infrastructure, including in Lakewood and Barberton. These upgrades are designed to deliver more reliable, resilient service to customers for years to come.
As with any major infrastructure transformation, some benefits will take time to fully materialize. Our request to adjust the reliability standards does not reflect a step back in our commitment. We’re confident in the progress underway and remain focused on improving reliability for the communities we are privileged to serve. Lakewood, Barberton and all Ohio customers deserve a modern grid that’s built for the future – and we are committed to delivering it."
We promise to follow through on the latest developments.
