Energy switch is clarified
By Kevin Dye
Staff Writer
West Jefferson residents need not fear that they are powerless when it comes to choosing their electric provider after receiving letters in the mail in the past week informing them of an automatic switch of their accounts.
Many village residents recently received a letter informing them that their electricity account had been switched from AEP Ohio to FirstEnergy Solutions. The letter informed the individuals that the deadline for opting out of the switch was Wednesday, Nov. 12, and after that date there would be a $200 fee to opt out of the agreement.
Several village council members, at their meeting Monday night, questioned if the situation had been created by a issue that was passed by Madison County voters in 2011 that covered unincorporated areas of the county. County Commissioner David Dhume addressed the issue on Wednesday. He said that legislation was created to benefit the people living in those unincorporated areas of the county and should not have affected West Jefferson residents.
“The main reason the commissioners took it upon ourselves to do this was due to savings to the utility user would receive on their generation charges,” Dhume said. “There was a one-time grant monies offered to be split between the county and the townships.
“The commissioners directed that money to the county directly to the Madison County Sheriff’s budget, because law enforcement is a number one priority. FirstEnergy guaranteed us there would be a marketing maneuver in Madison County of the switch and the savings and to opt out was the consumer’s choice.”
FirstEnergy Solution representative Emily Fernandez responded to The Madison Press on Wednesday, Nov. 21, about the situation. She said the letters to West Jefferson residents were an error.
“They should not have been included,” Fernandez said. “They will not be automatically switched and they will not be charged a fee to leave the program.”
Mayor Darlene Steele said she tried to contact FirstEnergy and Fernandez several times on Tuesday and finally turned to the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) for information when she got no response from FirstEnergy.
“I called the PUCO on Tuesday after I tried to contact FirstEnergy and I explained the situation,” Steele said. “They said that was not right. They said that the situation would be taken care of and anyone who didn’t respond to the letter would not be automatically switched to FirstEnergy and they would not face a charge to opt out.”
Dhume said he has talked with Steele about the situation and assured her that the county commissioners were just trying to save the county and residents money. Village of West Jefferson residents should not have been included in the matter.
“The commissioners want to apologize for any inconvenience from this situation and encourage residents to contact FirstEnergy about any problems with this,” Dhume said.
“The commissioners were just trying to save the county money.
“If the people of West Jefferson did not vote on this issue, then they should not have seen these letters. It sounds to me like FirstEnergy sent these letters to the residents of West Jefferson in error and I am glad this situation has been resolved for the residents of West Jefferson.”
