MANSFIELD — Maureen Willis said rising utility costs — and additional requested hikes — are creating an “affordability crisis” for Ohio residents.
Willis, the director of the Ohio Consumers’ Council, urged Mansfield City Council members on Tuesday evening to take action against a proposed three-year series of rate hikes requested by FirstEnergy.
During a 30-minute presentation during council’s economic development committee, Willis detailed the impact of FirstEnergy subsidiary Ohio Edison’s pending multi-year rate application.
Under the three-year proposal filed with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio in May 2026, Ohio Edison customers would see their bills increase by an average of $4.26 per month starting in 2027, eventually reaching an additional $12.78 per month by 2029.
“Consumers are struggling to pay their bills … but unlike anything we’ve seen before. We call it an affordability crisis,” said Willis, who serves as the legal director for the OCC, appointed in 2023.
She spent eight years as the OCC senior counsel before being elevated and has spent more than 27 years of her career representing residential utility consumers. The OCC is funded by assessments on investor-owned utility companies in Ohio, rather than through state tax dollars.
Ohio Edison is a local electric distribution utility owned by FirstEnergy. FirstEnergy is the parent holding corporation, while Ohio Edison is the specific brand and operating company that delivers power, maintains lines and sends bills to customers in northern and central Ohio.
Ohio Edison serves as the exclusive electric distribution utility for virtually 100% of residential and commercial properties within the city of Mansfield.
Willis cited two primary catalysts behind rising utility costs across the state: corporate rate-of-return targets (i.e. profits) set by state regulators and massive infrastructure investments needed to support the regional grid.
She said a major factor driving grid strain and wholesale capacity prices is the rapid, unprecedented expansion of data centers across Ohio, particularly in central regions like Franklin County.
Because wholesale electricity prices are set across a 13-state regional transmission grid managed by PJM Interconnection, price spikes caused by high demand affect consumers statewide.
“Much of the increases in energy and capacity are being caused because there’s an explosive amount of demand primarily coming from data centers and the supply can’t keep up with the demand,” Willis said.
“If you took economics like I did in college, you know that if you have increased demand and your supply is stagnant or declining, prices are going to go up, and that’s exactly what’s happening.
“When the data centers have such unprecedented demand, that’s driving prices —electricity, capacity, and energy prices — up on the federal level,” Willis explained.
“When the data centers have such unprecedented demand, that’s driving prices, electricity capacity and energy prices up on the federal level. No matter where you live in the 13-state region, you are being affected by data centers, the, increased demand and the stagnant supply creating upward pressure on prices.
“So unfortunately, yes, everyone in the state of Ohio is affected,” Willis said.
She said the OCC is currently evaluating Ohio Edison’s multi-thousand-page filing in PUCO Case No. 26-347 to determine if requested infrastructure upgrades are necessary for residential reliability or if they primarily serve commercial data developers.
(Below is a PDF with a presentation from the OCC to Mansfield City Council on Tuesday evening.)
Crystal Davis Weese, who represents the 3rd Ward on City Council, told Willis Mansfield’s median household income is lower than most Ohio communities with similar populations.
“Although people don’t think $12 is a lot of money … for a working poor family, that’s a box of cereal and some milk for their children,” Davis Weese said.
Willis asked local lawmakers to formally oppose the rate increase by passing a official resolution, noting that municipal resolutions are entered directly into PUCO case dockets as formal evidence.
She also urged residents to submit letters, file comments online or testify at upcoming public hearings hosted by state regulators.
“I think that’s why it’s so important to try to attend the public hearings and to try to send letters or pass a resolution so that that you drive that point home with the (PUCO) commissioners.
“(If) they don’t hear it from the ordinary people, they’re not going to hear it from anyone else,” Willis said.
Tonja Stewart-Shaw, senior outreach and education specialist at the OCC, presented immediate relief options available to residents facing utility shutoffs or high balances:
- Special Reconnect Order: Running through April 16, 2027, this PUCO program allows any customer facing disconnection or currently disconnected to restore or maintain service for a flat maximum payment of $175, regardless of income or total account balance. The $175 fee can be split equally ($87.50 each) between electric and natural gas utilities.
- Percentage of Income Payment Plan (PIPP Plus): Income-eligible customers earning at or below 175% of federal poverty guidelines can cap their monthly electric bills at a set percentage of household income.
- Winter Crisis Program: Administered locally through community action agencies (including the local agency on Park Avenue East), offering emergency financial assistance for heating bills during winter months.
Residents seeking details on the Ohio Edison rate case, money-saving tips or rate-comparison resources can visit the consumer advocate’s official site at occ.ohio.gov.
