State Rep. Brennan delivers emotional testimony at PUCO hearing

PARMA, Ohio -- FirstEnergy is currently before the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) seeking to lower its obligations to the public for providing safe and reliable power.

In response, State Rep. Sean Brennan -- who serves residents in Parma, Parma Heights, Old Brooklyn, Brooklyn Centre and Clark Fulton -- recently testified at an evidentiary hearing before an administrative law judge.

Speaking about the real-world impact of prolonged outages on vulnerable residents in his district, the Parma resident became emotional while describing their circumstances.

“There are moments in public service when policy becomes personal,” Brennan said in a press release.

“I got emotional when speaking about some of my seniors and wheelchair-bound residents who depend on medical equipment and elevators for their health and safety.

“When the power goes out, it is not an inconvenience for them -- it is a threat.”

FirstEnergy is seeking permission to extend the average time it takes to restore power following outages and, in some cases, increase the number of allowable outages per year.

The company has acknowledged in filings that its reliability performance has declined in recent years.

Brennan formally read into the hearing record a letter from Parma City Councilwoman Deborah Lime detailing how extended outages have affected elderly and disabled residents, particularly those living in multi-story residential buildings who rely on elevators and powered medical equipment.

The letter urged regulators to maintain strong reliability standards and reject any proposal that would normalize longer or more frequent outages.

The matter remains pending before the commission following the evidentiary phase of the case.

“As elected officials, our first obligation is to protect the health and safety of our residents,” Brennan said.