Rep. McNally Urges PUCO to Reject FirstEnergy Request to Weaken Power Reliability Standards

COLUMBUS - State Rep. Lauren McNally (D-Youngstown) today sent a letter to the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) to prioritize Ohioans and reject FirstEnergy's request to weaken the state's reliability standards to allow for longer and more frequent power outages.

"The customers of FirstEnergy deserve a dependable grid and a public utility that wants to hit high reliability benchmarks. First Energy should be accountable for the services that they provide," said Rep. McNally. "My neighbors, in FirstEnergy territory, have shared how their utility bills have skyrocketed; the stress on their wallets should not be paired with a less reliable service, with the possibility of rolling blackouts."

This letter responds to Case No. 24-1112-EL-ESS, in which FirstEnergy requests reduced expectations for reliability for subsidiary companies Ohio Edison, Toledo Edison, and Cleveland Electric Illuminating Co. to increase the number of outages allowed in a year and have additional time to restore service after an outage. Lawmakers note that these outages can have major economic and public safety impacts and easing regulations would hurt families who have already been footing the bill grid modernization.

Coming off the heels of the passage of House Bill 15, Ohio lawmakers have made it very clear that reliability is a non-partisan priority and that Ohioans should not have to suffer due to the lack of investment by the energy provider. If people want to file public comment, that can be done here: https://dis.puc.state.oh.us/CaseRecord.aspx?CaseNo=241112&x=0&y=0. Click "File a Public Comment" at the top and fill out the form.

EDITOR'S NOTE: A copy of the letter sent to PUCO is attached to this press release.