Clone of First Energy Presents Proposed Rate Increase to Utilities Committee

Jun 25, 2026

CLEVELAND, OHIO—Today, June 25, 2026, Cleveland City Council’s Utilities Committee heard a presentation by representatives from FirstEnergy who were requesting support for a proposed three-year rate increase.

In May 2026, FirstEnergy's Ohio utilities filed their first three-year rate plan with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO). For Illuminating Company customers in the Cleveland area, the company proposes an average increase of about 2.6% per year, which FirstEnergy says would amount to roughly $5.15 per month each year over three years for a typical residential customer.

FirstEnergy says the money would be used for:

  • Grid modernization
  • Reliability improvements
  • Vegetation management
  • Pole and wire replacement
  • Expanded customer assistance programs

Utilities Committee Chairman Councilman Brian Kazy didn’t hold back his criticism of FirstEnergy’s proposal.

“Just when you’re sure they couldn’t stoop any lower, FirstEnergy says, ‘Hold my beer,’” Kazy said. “For 25 years, FirstEnergy has repeatedly demonstrated its bottomless contempt for its ratepayers and put all Ohioans at risk. Now, FirstEnergy is once again shamelessly asking for more money from Clevelanders and other Ohioans whose budgets are already stretched to their limits.”

“I’m glad they came to our committee today so I could tell them to their faces what I think of their contemptible behavior,” Kazy added.

Unlike previous rate increases for infrastructure modernization and improvement, which were generally used to reimburse FirstEnergy for expenses it had already incurred, its new proposed rate increase is based on forecasts of future expenses and allows FirstEnergy to collect money before the costs are actually incurred. If those forecasts prove inaccurate, ratepayers would be on the hook for any additional expenses.

FirstEnergy’s proposed rate increase comes on the heels of its request earlier this year that the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio lower state standards to allow more frequent power outages and longer repair times.

Last January, Councilman Kazy excoriated FirstEnergy for this proposal. “FirstEnergy wants the right to inflict more power outages on its customers and then take longer to fix them. For some of our most vulnerable residents, electricity can be a matter of life and death. The longer the outage, the greater the risk, and sometimes people die. It’s a cruel joke from Ohio’s worst corporate citizen.”

In response to the PUCO’s decision yesterday, June 24, 2026, denying FirstEnergy’s proposal, Kazy said, “I applaud the PUCO for its decision yesterday to deny FirstEnergy’s irresponsible request.”

Kazy also offered several facts to put FirstEnergy’s rate increase into a broader context.

  • Last year, the PUCO approved an approximately $34 million annual increase for distribution rates. Ratepayers began to see these additional costs on their bills earlier this month.
  • Median household income in the city of Cleveland is roughly $43,383, which is approximately 40% lower than Ohio's statewide median and about 50% lower than the national median. As a comparison, FirstEnergy CEO and Board Chair Brian X. Tierney received approximately $13.3 million in total compensation for fiscal year 2025.
  • At an estimated monthly cost of $160 per month, roughly 4.5% of an average Cleveland household’s gross monthly income goes to FirstEnergy.
  • In 2025, FirstEnergy earned about $1.02 billion on $15.1 billion of revenue, meaning roughly $1 of profit for every $15 of revenue collected. This means that for an average Cleveland household, more than $10.50 per month, or $128 per year, funds FirstEnergy’s profit margin.
  • Over the last 40 years, Cleveland Public Power (CPP) has raised its rates only once.

Kazy also offered a “Despicable Dozen" list of FirstEnergy scandals, outrages, and criticisms over the last 25 years:

  • The HB 6 bribery scheme.
  • Alleged corruption of Ohio utility regulation.
  • Nuclear safety failures at the Davis-Besse plant.
  • FirstEnergy’s role in the 2003 Northeast blackout, which at the time was the world’s second-most widespread blackout in history.
  • Misleading investors about corruption risks.
  • Reliability problems and repeated outages.
  • Customer charges that were later found improper by regulators.
  • Worker safety lawsuits and OSHA findings.
  • Extensive dark-money political spending.
  • Repeated criticisms of corporate governance and oversight.
  • Lobbying against Ohio's energy-efficiency and renewable-energy requirements and obstructing measures that would both reduce greenhouse gas emissions and alleviate stress on the power grid.
  • Secretly funding mailings to Cleveland residents attacking CPP's rates and billing practices.

“I have deep respect for the FirstEnergy employees who work hard—often under dangerous conditions—to keep our lights on and the power flowing,” Councilman Kazy concluded. “I can’t say the same for their company and the executives who run it. They need to be stopped.”

For more information, please contact Councilman Brian Kazy at 216.664.2942 or bkazy@clevelandcitycouncil.gov.