COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - State regulators have approved a plan allowing FirstEnergy Corp. to impose electricity rate increases totaling $132.5 million a year plus taxes for a total of $204 million annually over the next three years.
The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio unanimously approved the plan Wednesday. The commission estimates a household using an average of 750 kilowatt-hours of electricity a month would see monthly bills increase $3 a month, or $36 a year.
The initial increase will run three years, with Akron-based FirstEnergy having the option to ask for another two years.
FirstEnergy had sought an eight-year subsidy estimated to cost its customers at least $558 million annually. Opponents of FirstEnergy's proposal also weren't happy with the plan approved Wednesday. They have argued the increases amount to a bailout of the utility.