Ohio Consumers’ Counsel Senior Outreach and Education Program Specialist Andrew Tinkham joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast to talk about a $306 million settlement FirstEnergy will pay to consumers for collecting significantly excessive profits.
Tinkham said the average FirstEnergy residential customer will receive $85.71 over the next five years as credits on their electric bills.
The case resulted from OCC’s appeal of a decision by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio that the FirstEnergy companies did not earn significantly excessive profits between 2017 and 2019.
Tinkham also spoke about National Consumer Protection Week and detailed numerous scams of which consumers should be aware.
He described emergency payment scams in which fake utility companies will call victims with threats to cut off service. The victims are instructed to purchase payment cards at local stores and provide the fraudster with the numbers on the card. Tinkham urged consumers to contact the utility company directly in regards to any outstanding bill to ensure it is genuine.
Listen to the entire episode to learn more about these topics.