Despite $1 billion in ratepayer-funded grid upgrades, the scandal-plagued utility wants permission for extended outages, citing climate change, while Cleveland, Lakewood, and Barberton fight back
Electric company trucks scramble when the power goes out. FirstEnergy says it needs more time because powerful storms do more damage these days, but is the utility to blame for ignoring grid maintenance?FirstEnergy’s request to extend allowable power outage times and increase the number of permissible outages per year is sparking debate about whether the utility is a victim of powerful storms resulting from climate change or its own well-documented negligence.
. The scandal-plagued power company is asking the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio to approve longer restoration times, citing increasingly severe weather events as justification. Cities including Cleveland, Lakewood, and Barberton are fighting back, arguing the request would cause significant harm to residents.host Chris Quinn – who described FirstEnergy as “one of the worst companies in the history of Ohio” – actually defended the utility’s position Monday: “I actually think they have a strong point here. We have seen storms come through that do widespread damage. They’re right about the rainfall, they’re right about the trees coming down. And they only have so many people that can get out there and fix them. So just the law of averages is against them... I think they actually deserve the consideration here, despite what the cities are saying.” This prompted immediate pushback from co-host Laura Johnston: “You called FirstEnergy a victim of climate change. They are a contributor to climate change. If we had more green energy in this state, we wouldn’t be in such a bad problem.” FirstEnegy and other utilities that rely on fossil fuels have lobbied Ohio leaders to make green energy projects almost impossible to build in the state, meaning more pollution that leads to climate change. Lisa Garvin further challenged Quinn’s position, highlighting the disconnect between FirstEnergy’s request and past investments: “We’ve spent $1 billion of our ratepayer money since 2017 for grid upgrades. We’re behind the eight ball on climate change. If we can’t even get them up to modern day standards, how can we be prepared for the future.” The cities fighting FirstEnergy’s request present compelling evidence against the utility’s claims. Lakewood, which experienced 60 outages lasting five hours or longer in a one-year period, argues that 33 of those outages resulted from line or equipment failures or human error – factors entirely under FirstEnergy’s control. Similarly, Cleveland contends that two-thirds of their outages stemmed from circumstances the company could have prevented. While FirstEnergy points to increased rainfall and wetter ground conditions making trees more likely to topple during storms, the cities aren’t buying it. Lakewood specifically notes that 12 of their outages were caused by trees that FirstEnergy was responsible for maintaining. Quinn suggested the cause is not an either-or issue, butone where both things are happening. FirstEnergy has terribly ignored the grid it is supposed to fortify, while the the storms that take out power lines have intensified. The PUCO will decide what is reasonable, and the podcast hosts said they wished the commission would force FirstEnergy to improve the grid, regardless of the decision on power outage length.“Nothing Christian about hate:”: Why Ohio’s Center for Christian Virtue is a lobbying forceListen to full “Today in Ohio” episodes where Chris Quinn hosts our daily half-hour news podcast, with Editorial Board member Lisa Garvin, Impact Editor Leila Atassi and Content Director Laura Johnston.
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