Rep. Brennan Continues to Advocate for Residents and Searches for Answers from FirstEnergy

COLUMBUS – State Rep. Sean Patrick Brennan (Parma) is continuing to advocate for residents following the EF-1 tornadoes that touched down in Northeast Ohio on August 6th, 2024. The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) held a briefing with FirstEnergy Wednesday regarding electric power outages resulting from severe weather and extensive storm damage. FirstEnergy reported that nearly 500,000 customers lost power and many remained without power for several days.

Rep. Brennan, a member of the House Public Utilities Committee, attended the briefing to advocate for residents that were significantly affected by these power outages and storm damage.

“I commend and extend my gratitude to line workers and first responders that served our communities quickly and kindly during this tragedy and kept them safe from hazards. However, despite the significant amount of money hard-working Ohioans spent to fund energy infrastructure and grid modernization, our state is falling short in managing these outages compared to other states, disproportionately affecting Ohio’s working families and businesses,” said Rep. Brennan.

For years, FirstEnergy charged customers in the form of hidden riders on their electric bill, including the Distribution Modernization Rider (DMR), totaling hundreds of millions of dollars. A state-commissioned audit found that there is no evidence to show the $460M FirstEnergy charged to its customers was used for its stated purpose of modernizing and stabilizing the electric grid. In fact, FirstEnergy did not track where this revenue from the DMR went and what it was used for.

“We owe all Ohio residents reliable and affordable power. Going forward, the PUCO needs to hold First Energy accountable for ensuring that ratepayer dollars that are earmarked for infrastructure improvements are used for that purpose,” added Rep. Brennan.

In his questioning of the PUCO commissioners, Rep. Brennan stated that because First Energy never proved where the DMR dollars went, one is left to believe that some of the money ended up being used for political activity, including the $60M bribe related to the House Bill (HB) 6 scandal. He is the sponsor of HB 120 which would repeal HB 6 and refund the hundreds of millions of dollars that Ohioans have been and continue to be charged to keep two antiquated coal-fired power plants open. One of the plants is in southern Ohio, while the other is located in Indiana.

“It is time Ohioans stopped paying for the cost of corruption and that we start rebalancing utility laws in Ohio by tilting them more toward the consumers who are required to pay their bills every month whether their power is reliable or not,” stated Rep. Brennan. 

Wednesday’s PUCO hearing can be viewed here.