{"id":5699,"date":"2026-01-13T14:01:01","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T20:01:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ohenergyratings.com\/blog\/?p=5699"},"modified":"2026-01-13T14:01:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T20:01:07","slug":"first-energy-settlement-could-cost-275-million","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ohenergyratings.com\/blog\/first-energy-settlement-could-cost-275-million\/","title":{"rendered":"First Energy Settlement Could Cost $275 Million"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2>First Energy $275 Million Customer Relief<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-medium\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ohenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/First-Energy-Ohio-settlement-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"First Energy's settlement with the OCC and 12 other stakeholders will put more money into consumer's pockets.\" class=\"wp-image-5712\" title=\"First Energy $275 Million Customer Relief\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ohenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/First-Energy-Ohio-settlement-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ohenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/First-Energy-Ohio-settlement-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.ohenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/First-Energy-Ohio-settlement-230x129.jpg 230w, https:\/\/www.ohenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/First-Energy-Ohio-settlement-350x197.jpg 350w, https:\/\/www.ohenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/First-Energy-Ohio-settlement-480x270.jpg 480w, https:\/\/www.ohenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/First-Energy-Ohio-settlement.jpg 788w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption><center><em>First Energy reached a settlement with the OCC and 12 other stakeholders to refund $275 million to Ohio electric customers.<\/em><\/center><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>It&#8217;s been quite some time since news first broke about the HB6 corruption scandal. After a lengthy hearing before PUCO, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ohenergyratings.com\/companies\/firstenergy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">First Energy<\/a><\/strong> has worked out an agreement to repay customers for its role in the HB6 scandal. But how will this money be repaid and what can you expect? Here&#8217;s what you need to know about the First Energy $275 million settlement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3>First Energy Settlement Details<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Last month, PUCO ordered <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ohenergyratings.com\/blog\/puco-orders-refunds-to-first-energy-customers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>First Energy<\/strong> to refund customers<\/a> $250 million for its actions during the HB6 scandal. So, to end to close the matter, the utility made a settlement with the Office of the Ohio Consumers&#8217; Counsel (OCC) and 12 other parties. The <a href=\"https:\/\/spectrumnews1.com\/content\/dam\/News\/static\/pdfs\/oh\/Stipulation_Recommendation_-_17-974-EL-UNC_et_al_-_12_19_25.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">agreement includes<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><strong>FirstEnergy <\/strong>must repay $275 million to customers. This includes $250 million in bill credits in 2026 as well as $25 million in additional penalties.<\/li><li>This also includes $25 million in additional penalties. About $20 million of this chunk will go to low income bill payment help and energy saving programs.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>This agreement affects all <strong>First Energy<\/strong> Ohio customers, including those who shop for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ohenergyratings.com\/best\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">best electric supplier.<\/a> But while the settlement closes the door on the four related cases before PUCO, the HB6 matter is not over. The utility still faces charges that it illegally used customers&#8217; payments for for political or charitable purposes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3>Is Settlement Enough for Ohio Customers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>This settlement includes one of the largest penalties in US history. <strong>PUCO<\/strong> also cut First Energy&#8217;s ask for $183 million in profits to just $34 million. In fact, the <strong>OCC<\/strong> pushed for <a href=\"https:\/\/ohiocapitaljournal.com\/2026\/01\/07\/after-ohios-landmark-decisions-on-hb-6-utility-scandal-whats-next\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">$132 million in rate cuts<\/a> to lower the company&#8217;s rate of return. Yet, despite this, PUCO also granted a rate increase to <strong>First Energy&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ohenergyratings.com\/companies\/illuminating-company\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Illuminating Company<\/a><\/strong> which saw numerous outages last summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On top of this, <strong>FirstEnergy<\/strong> announced that it would file their next rate case <a href=\"https:\/\/d18rn0p25nwr6d.cloudfront.net\/CIK-0001031296\/dda501b3-f45d-4cdf-a82a-17fb8a4283c4.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">early this year<\/a>. So Ohioans may still see their distribution rates rise further and sooner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3>What First Energy Customers Do Next?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Bill credits are a welcome relief for First Energy customers facing rising <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ohenergyratings.com\/ohio-electricity-rates-by-city\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">electricity rates<\/a>. Nevertheless, utilities are spending more and more on expanding their grids to cover rising demand. So bills will keep rising. But smart energy shoppers can do a lot to cut their costs to stay ahead of those increases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The best way is to shop for the best energy deals in town, right here at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ohenergyratings.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/www.ohenergyratings.com<\/a>. You can also count on us for news and tips that could affect your bills.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>First Energy $275 Million Customer Relief It&#8217;s been quite some time since [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":5711,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mbp_gutenberg_autopost":false},"categories":[9,104,42],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ohenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5699"}],"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=5699"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.ohenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5699\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5717,"href":"https:\/\/www.ohenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5699\/revisions\/5717"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ohenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ohenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ohenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ohenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}