PUCO rejects FirstEnergy bid to weaken reliability standards, allow outages to last longer

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio regulators rejected FirstEnergy’s request to weaken its reliability standards, concluding that customers should not have to accept longer and more frequent power outages because the company has struggled to meet existing benchmarks.

The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio denied the utility’s application on Wednesday and left current standards in place.

In its order, the commission highlighted the significant opposition it received from customers, consumer advocates, local governments and elected officials.

“This decision sends an important message,” Rep Sean Brennan, a Parma Democrat, said. “The standard for service should be determined by what is best for Ohioans, not what is most convenient for the utility.”

FirstEnergy had argued that its reliability worsened in recent years despite investments in the electric grid. The company pointed to heavier rainfall, aging infrastructure and trees falling outside its trimming zones as reasons it has had trouble meeting current standards.

“We respect the PUCO’s thoughtful decision and will continue operating under the existing reliability standards,” FirstEnergy said in a statement. “Our commitment to customers has not changed: we remain focused on restoring power as quickly and safely as possible and making the investments needed to strengthen the grid and improve reliability across Ohio.”

State regulators judge power reliability using two main measures.

One is how long the average power outage lasts. The other tracks how many times the average customer loses power in a year.

The proposal would have allowed Cleveland Electric Illuminating to increase its average wait time for reconnection from 135 minutes to 150 minutes. Ohio Edison requested about three extra minutes per outage, while Toledo Edison sought 12 more minutes.

Cleveland, Lakewood and Barberton all opposed the request. They said many outages stemmed from equipment failures and other issues within the company’s control.

Lakewood wrote in its December filing to the PUCO that 33 of its power outages came from “line failures, equipment failures, or human error by the company.” Another 12 were due to trees the company maintains.

Consumer advocates were also opposed, arguing that customers have already paid more than $1 billion for reliability improvements and should not receive lower service standards in return.