WEST PARK, Ohio — Power outages have affected different parts of Northeast Ohio for the past two months. The latest is on the West Side, where residents are struggling as dangerous cold weather approaches.
Council members are now demanding that FirstEnergy investigate the cause of the problem.
Many are preparing to stay in their homes this freezing week, and West Park resident Candice Gibbons fears she may lose her heat.
“The one before that was out for quite a while, and I was getting very cold, and I had a ton of blankets,” Gibbons said.
For more than two months in her West Park home, Candice says she’s lost power up to 15 times. Sometimes, the power goes out multiple times in the same night.
“We just don't know when we're going to have it,” Gibbons said.
To add to that nervousness, she’s a retired senior citizen, like many others in the area.
She says when the power goes out, it’s pitch black, often in the middle of the night. She also fears she or a neighbor might injure themselves trying to find light, so she keeps a flashlight right by her bed.
These same outages have affected multiple cities across Northeast Ohio, leading Council members Brian Kazy (Cleveland City Councilman Ward 16) and Charles J. Slife (Cleveland City Councilman Ward 17) to send a letter to the Public Utilities Commission demanding answers.
“We have some real concerns about the state of the FirstEnergy grid and want to make sure that this isn't some sort of new normal,” Slife said.
In their letter, they highlight the West Park neighborhood outages, stating that, unlike other areas where residents can choose their energy provider, they are forced to use FirstEnergy. They added that there’s no excuse for the problem to last this long.
“We're paying a company that is investor-owned to provide us with electricity, and if there are inconsistencies, there's a question as to what our money is going towards,” Kazy said.
In a statement to News 5, FirstEnergy says it is aware of some outages in the West Park area over the past few months. It adds that it is working with council members and is committed to understanding what’s happening.
The full statement is below:
“We understand how frustrating and disruptive power outages, no matter their length, can be. FirstEnergy is aware of some outages in the West Park area over the past few months, and we deeply empathize with the inconvenience this has caused.
We have been working with council members and are committed to working closely with our operations team to understand the full scope of each outage and take appropriate steps to prevent future interruptions. Many of these outages were linked to an equipment issue within a local substation, which we addressed on January 7 by installing a new breaker.
FirstEnergy takes a number of steps to prepare its system for cold weather and continues to engage in discussions with the regional grid operator and peers to take any necessary proactive steps to ensure grid reliability through these extreme temperatures.
We are committed to delivering safe, reliable power to our customers and are continually making investments to enhance and strengthen the electric system,”
As for Candice, she’s nervous about heading into the next dangerous cold days.
“I don't know. It's just, it's kind of scary to think that I’m going to have to sleep out in my car where it's warm," said Candice. "What am I going to do?"
After 50 years in her home, she's fed up with the constant outages she's never experienced before and just wants her peace of mind restored.
“Fix it. What's wrong with you people? Why are you doing this to us? That's the way I feel about it. Fix it. You have to know where it's coming from that this keeps coming out like this. Fix it,” said Candice.
