FirstEnergy Settlement OK’d Paying Ohio Customers $306 Million

Ohio energy regulators approved a settlement Wednesday that will send $306 million of FirstEnergy Corp. cash back to customers who were overcharged.

The finalized deal came more than two years after the Ohio Supreme Court ruled the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio improperly granted FirstEnergy a rider, which the company said it needed to pay down debt so it could improve its ability to invest in future grid modernization.

Under the terms of the settlement, which came after several years of rate-payer challenges, FirstEnergy will refund $96 million in 2021. For residential customers that will take the form of a ...