Rep. Brent Urges PUCO to Hold Meeting with Utility Leaders Regarding Power Outages
COLUMBUS – In a letter sent last Wednesday to Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) Chair Jenifer French, State Rep. Juanita O. Brent (D-Cleveland) and other House Democrats called on the PUCO to take immediate action to address the reliability of Ohio's power grid in light of recent severe weather events that have caused widespread outages. The delegation— made up of Democrats on the Ohio House Public Utilities Committee and representing Northeast Ohio—urged the PUCO to convene meetings with utility leaders to discuss the issue and explore solutions to protect consumers in case of prolonged outages.
“Without immediate and meaningful action, climate change will continue to cause extreme weather and drive-up costs for all Ohioans. It is crucial that we address these energy reliability issues promptly to ensure that our residents and businesses have access to dependable, affordable power, particularly when emergencies like the ones witnessed last week happen. We look forward to your response and to collaborating on these pressing matters to achieve a better energy future in Ohio,” read the letter.
The letter highlights the urgent need for a modern and resilient grid system following the storms and tornadoes that ravaged Northeast Ohio on August 6. Those storms led to extensive power outages and prompted a state of emergency declaration by Governor DeWine. The delegation expressed concern over Ohio's current performance in managing power outages, referencing a recent Cleveland.com article reporting Ohio ranked second in the nation for residents affected by power outages.
PUCO’s failure to act promptly comes at the same time as the Akron-based electric utility company FirstEnergy received an outrageous settlement from Attorney General Yost for its role in the largest political scandal in Ohio history, which PUCO played a key role in perpetuating. The cushy $20M settlement FirstEnergy received to avoid prosecution is just a fraction of the $61M spent in bribes and is dwarfed by the roughly $700M Ohio’s consumers are still on the hook to pay in HB 6 subsidies by 2030.
“We are burying our heads when we should be burying our power lines," said Rep. Brent. "Ohio refuses to properly invest into upgrading our aging power grid. Over 300K people are without power due to legislators’ reluctance to act. At least one of Ohio’s utility providers have failed the Public Utilities Commission reliability standards for 8 years in a row. Ohio ranks fifth in the nation for storm-caused power outages. This is not a new issue. Do not be surprised when the foundation we built with sand cannot weather the storm."