The utility that provides electricity to Northeast Ohio is asking the state to change its reliability standards, a proposal that critics say could lead to longer and more frequent power outages as energy prices go up. 

FirstEnergy's request to the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, originally submitted in December 2024, asks the PUCO to establish company-specific minimum reliability performance standards for each of its three companies that operate in the state: Ohio Edison, Toledo Edison and the Illuminating Company. 

One of those standards dictates how often outages are allowed to happen, and the other says how long companies can take to fix them. FirstEnergy's proposed updates would relax both measures. 

FirstEnergy declined an interview request, but told 21 News in a statement that the new standards "are calculated based on actual reliability data, including number of outages, duration and cause, from the past 5 years."

"That means the updated standards reflect reality – what we are seeing now versus when the older standards were created using pre-2020 data," the statement reads. "While we acknowledge and are addressing instances of equipment challenges in some areas, overall, it’s smaller but disruptive weather events, heavier rainfall and trees outside our rights-of-way falling into electrical equipment that drive these changes." 

The request has sparked bipartisan backlash from Ohio lawmakers, and more than a hundred public comments have been submitted. That includes a letter signed by 19 members of the Ohio House Energy Committee, including Rep. Tex Fischer (R-59). 

"It's their job to provide power to consumers, and if they can't get that done in the parameters that we already have, then they need to figure it out," Fischer said. "Consumers are spending more money than ever on their utility bills, at the same time when they're asking us to give them a little grace so they can keep our power off for longer. ... I think it's absurd. That's their job." 

The Ohio Consumers' Counsel and the Ohio Environmental Council have also come out against the change. The OCC submitted testimony to the PUCO stating that "going without heating or cooling can be dangerous to a consumer's health, and can even be fatal, due to unsafe temperatures."

Testimony for and against the change is being presented to the PUCO at an evidentiary hearing this week, scheduled for Thursday and Friday. Once the hearing is complete, additional briefs may be filed. There is no set timeline for when the commissioners may render their decision, according to a PUCO spokesperson.