{"id":5087,"date":"2025-07-25T15:19:47","date_gmt":"2025-07-25T20:19:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ohenergyratings.com\/blog\/?p=5087"},"modified":"2025-07-25T15:19:53","modified_gmt":"2025-07-25T20:19:53","slug":"cleveland-area-seeing-alarming-bouts-of-firstenergy-power-outages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ohenergyratings.com\/blog\/cleveland-area-seeing-alarming-bouts-of-firstenergy-power-outages\/","title":{"rendered":"Cleveland Area Seeing Alarming Bouts of FirstEnergy Power Outages"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

FirstEnergy Customers Angered By Frequent Outages<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Power
Residents are angry that northeastern Ohio has seen more than a dozen power outages affecting thousands of FirstEnergy customers since mid-May. Summer’s not over yet.<\/em><\/center><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

We’ve all been through a few summer storm power outages. And usually, the longer a blackout lasts, the worse it can get. But so far this summer, several Cleveland area towns have lost power a dozen times in just two and a half months. With their power from FirstEnergy<\/strong> so unreliable, many wonder what their electricity bills<\/a> are supposed to be paying for. Now, angry city councilmen are demanding answers about these frequent outages. And PUCO<\/strong> has agreed to step in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cleveland Area Frequent Outages<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

According to reports by WOIO News 19<\/a>, the Cleveland area has seen 12 outages since May 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"List<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

At the time of this writing on June 25, an overnight storm cut power to thousands<\/a> in the Cleveland area. Power to some areas may not happen until 3 pm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Councilman Wants FirstEnergy To Pay<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Clearly, the number of outages isn’t just inconvenient. Families must go for hours without AC during the hottest part of the year. Restaurants must throw out spoiled food. And people who rely on home medical devices must find power in other places. So, it’s easy to see why Cleveland area customers are furious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

City leaders in these towns want answers. Barberton mayor William Judge sent a complaint to PUCO<\/strong> and FirstEnergy<\/strong><\/a>. Councilman Thomas Heitic<\/a> went on to call for $100 credits for the city’s 10,000 ratepayers. And in Lakewood, mayor Meghan George’s letter to PUCO squarely blamed the company’s “corporate ineptitude and apathy<\/a>“. The city also urged people<\/a> to file complaints with PUCO<\/strong> as well to track the outages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On July 1, PUCO<\/strong> replied<\/a> that it had begun looking into the outages. PUCO<\/strong> staff will need to review outage data. They will also likely check through the company\u2019s equipment, repair plans, and talk with personnel. Their findings could take months to complete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s note worthy that these outages come after several Ohio utilities<\/a> hiked distribution charges. The reason they gave was raise funds to improve the grid. Past efforts to upgrade the Ohio grid have stumbled through a few snags. In 2019, the Ohio Supreme Court<\/a> struck down a PUCO<\/strong> approved bill rider charge to cover FirstEnergy grid upgrades. In part, they found the rider had “no directives or timelines regarding specific distribution-modernization projects.” Had the rider gone through, it would have allowed FirstEnergy<\/strong> to spend that money on anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The recently signed HB15 law<\/a> ends these kinds of riders. But, with FirstEnergy<\/strong> under close scrutiny for these outages, critics are quick to point out its ongoing bribery scandal<\/a> troubles. So, there’s little wonder why so many people in northeast Ohio don’t trust it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What’s Next For FirstEnergy?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Clearly, FirstEnergy<\/strong> can’t control severe storms and traffic accidents. But, they are responsible for keeping their grid working reliably<\/em> for their customers. The fact that this isn’t happening has lawmakers and customers fed up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The team at https:\/\/www.ohenergyratings.com<\/a> will keep following this story. You can count on us for tips and info and will report on anything that could affect your bills. You can also shop here for the best energy deals in town.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FirstEnergy Customers Angered By Frequent Outages We’ve all been through a few […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":5142,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mbp_gutenberg_autopost":false},"categories":[9,41,66,42],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ohenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5087"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ohenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ohenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ohenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ohenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5087"}],"version-history":[{"count":27,"href":"https:\/\/www.ohenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5087\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5144,"href":"https:\/\/www.ohenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5087\/revisions\/5144"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ohenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ohenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ohenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5087"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ohenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}