COLUMBUS, Ohio — As areas across Ohio struggle with power outages and blackouts during the high heat, energy companies seek to increase utility bills. This comes as new testimony accuses the state's utility regulating body of trying to go easy on and help energy companies.
It's been a hot and expensive summer.
"It's gone up, I would say about a third this year," Parma resident Sean Brennan said.
Brennan knows that his utility costs typically go up this time of year, but it's what is happening behind the scenes that worries him.
"The utilities really have an inordinate amount of power, despite the fact that the power should really rest in the hands of the people," he said.
He became a Democratic state representative, trying to help people like him frustrated by bills. This is why he is worried that FirstEnergy is petitioning the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) to approve a rate hike of $190 million.
If approved, the Ohio Consumers' Counsel (OCC) estimated that Cleveland Illuminating Company consumers will see a $13 price increase per month, Ohio Edison will have a $3 spike, and Toledo Edison a $1.50 increase.
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In testimony provided to the PUCO by a representative from FirstEnergy, they said that their “current base distribution rates are insufficient to provide them reasonable compensation for the electric distribution.” This means that it takes them too much money to get power to homes.
"If things were done in a more transparent manner, I think they'd have a lot more credibility when they make those types of arguments," Brennan said.
The PUCO is still under fire for its part in the House Bill 6 scandal, where their former chair, Sam Randazzo, was accused of being a mastermind behind the largest bribery scheme in state history.
How we got here
Back in 2019, Former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder took a $61 million bribe in exchange for legislation to give utility company FirstEnergy a $1 billion bailout, named H.B. 6, all at the taxpayers' expense.
In March 2023, a jury found that Householder and former GOP leader Matt Borges, beyond a reasonable doubt, participated in the racketeering scheme that left four men guilty. Neil Clark, a lobbyist accused of bribery, died by suicide after pleading not guilty in 2021. Householder is now sitting in prison for two years, while Borges got five.
Former FirstEnergy CEO Chuck Jones, former FirstEnergy Senior Vice President Michael Dowling and Randazzo were all hit with state bribery charges. Each pleaded not guilty during their joint arraignment in mid-February 2024. They are accused of masterminding the corruption scheme.
In April 2024, Randazzo would become the second defendant accused in the scandal to die by suicide.
I have covered this bribery scandal extensively, from the legislation going through the Statehouse to the arrests, trial, conviction, and sentencing of Householder and Borges. CLICK HERE to read my previous reporting.
New details
At the end of June, a legal transcript from the OCC's cross-examined an auditor who admitted that PUCO staff asked him to delete information and recommendations that would have helped protect consumers. The OCC said that PUCO, under Randazzo, was encouraging auditors to go easy on utility companies and to let them review drafts of the audits before publishing.
No one was available to go on camera to defend the PUCO or FirstEnergy, but the utility giant did give us a statement, saying they could not comment on whether they had been working with the PUCO for better audits.
"We are unable to comment on the PUCO hearings or matters related to HB6 given the ongoing litigation," FirstEnergy spokesperson Hannah Catlett said.
She added that the price hike request included other provisions.
"Separately, the rate review request FirstEnergy filed with the PUCO aims to recover costs of providing distribution service to customers, including significant service reliability improvements made in recent years," she said.
Utility company AEP, which also benefited from the corrupt legislation, dove further into why prices increased.
"This summer, the generation portion of bills increased 27% for customers on our standard service plan because of the imbalance between supply and demand. While the generation supply charge shows up on customers' AEP Ohio bills, it is not an AEP Ohio charge and we make no profit off of it. We pass the charge through, dollar for dollar with no markup, from the generation suppliers to the customers," an AEP spokesperson said.
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The PUCO never responded to our request for comment.
Householder’s attorney Scott Pullins previously told us that there is a reason costs go up.
"Our electric grid needs to be modernized, and I'm assuming that those are where those costs are going," Pullins said.
Brennan said this is unacceptable, as FirstEnergy and other companies continue to have outages and blackouts in the 90-degree heat.
"A lot of folks out there feel that they're powerless, pun intended," Brennan said.
The PUCO will continue to evaluate the increase request.
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