FirstEnergy Seeks Ohio Rate Hikes Under New Three-Year Grid Plan
FirstEnergy’s Ohio electric utilities have filed a three-year rate plan with state regulators that would fund roughly $800 million annually in grid upgrades while gradually increasing customer bills to support reliability investments.
FirstEnergy’s Ohio subsidiaries - Ohio Edison, The Illuminating Company, and Toledo Edison - submitted their first Three-Year Rate Plan to the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, outlining proposed investments in electric infrastructure, vegetation management, and customer assistance programs.
Under the proposal, the company would invest an average of $800 million per year in poles, wires, and grid technologies designed to reduce outages and speed restoration times. Another $83 million annually would be directed toward tree trimming and vegetation management, one of the leading causes of outages across Ohio.
The filing comes as U.S. utilities accelerate spending on grid hardening and modernization amid rising electricity demand, aging infrastructure, and increasingly severe weather events. Multi-year rate plans have become more common across regulated utility markets because they provide greater visibility into capital spending and reduce the frequency of rate cases.
FirstEnergy said the proposal is also aimed at making customer bill increases more gradual and predictable. Residential customers using around 1,000 kilowatt-hours per month would see average annual bill increases ranging from 2.2% to 2.8% over the three-year period, depending on the utility territory.
The plan includes expanded customer assistance initiatives, including the creation of a new $4 million Energy Assistance Fund in 2029 through the consolidation of existing programs. The company also proposed a separate $1 million Emergency Energy Support Fund for customers facing disconnection or attempting to restore service.
Additional energy-efficiency and conservation programs would continue through the duration of the plan, including weatherization assistance, smart thermostat rebates, and programs aimed at helping customers better manage electricity consumption.
The proposed rate adjustments would apply only to the distribution portion of customer bills and would not affect electricity supply costs, which are determined separately by competitive suppliers.
The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio will now review the filing and open the proposal to public comment before issuing a decision.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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