Lakewood mayor gets answers from FirstEnergy about power outages
LAKEWOOD, Ohio — Infuriated by ongoing power outages across the community, Lakewood Mayor Meghan George met last week with FirstEnergy officials.
The conference included Cleveland City Councilman Brian Kazy (Ward 16), Lakewood Council President Sarah Kepple and State Rep. Tristan Rader talking to the FirstEnergy leadership team about the chronic power failures affecting Lakewood and Cleveland’s west side neighborhoods.
“This meeting was different,” George said. “I’ve been very disappointed at the lack of communication from FirstEnergy over the last year on what is exactly going on with the power in Lakewood. Finally, we were told that there is, in fact, an issue with a Lakewood substation.
“That information would’ve been helpful, as I’ve had multiple discussions with FirstEnergy over the last year or so about this, and each time I’m assured the problem is fixed. The problem is not fixed.”
During the July 3 meeting, FirstEnergy acknowledged that issues were due to equipment and infrastructure.
The officials also committed to more than $3 million in repairs and improvements to the substations serving Lakewood and Cleveland.
This includes replacing a transformer and new breakers.
In the interim, FirstEnergy pledged to increase equipment inspections in the area and maintain a mobile substation at its southern Lakewood facility until the upgrades are completed.
“They’re telling me a permanent fix may not happen until 2026 or 2027,” she said.
As for what tonally changed from her previous interactions with FirstEnergy, George believes that’s related to the letter sent from her office, Kazy and Ward 17 Cleveland City Council member Charles Slife to the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) regarding the persistent outages over the last several months.
“The letter definitely has their attention,” she said. “I’m thankful for PUCO and their response.
“They’re launching a full investigation into FirstEnergy’s chronic failures. I’m happy about that.”
The mayor noted she also has a meeting set up with the governor’s office regarding the power outage issues.
“We have the right people now paying attention to this,” she said. “I’m going to do everything in my power to hold these people accountable.
“Unfortunately, we had more power outages over the weekend, so I sent another letter to the FirstEnergy leadership team and I copied PUCO. I’m just going to do that moving forward because they’re failing us. They’re failing our community — something has to change.”
When asked last week if she had confidence that a solution would be found, George had little faith in FirstEnergy.
So, has that changed?
“It’s challenging because they do not have a proven track record of fixing the problem,” she said. “So I’m working hard to hold them accountable and PUCO is launching the investigation.
“I’m going to continue to push (FirstEnergy) to fix their crumbling and failing infrastructure.”
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