If you waited, your FirstEnergy bill is about to drop you to the floor when it more than doubles in June

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - In a matter of hours, the cost of electricity from FirstEnergy, the Illuminating Company, Toledo and Ohio Edison is going to more than double.

Starting June 1, the cost will go from 5.3 cents per kilowatt hour to the following rates:

• Ohio Edison: 12.39 cents/kwh
• Illuminating Co.: 12.40 cents/kwh
• Toledo Edison: 12.41 cents/kwh

To avoid the higher price, Ohioans have the right to chose their energy provider.

The artificial deadline was May 2.

The reason behind the deadline is because it takes one or two billing cycles to switch to a new provider.

For the majority of Northeast Ohio, but not everyone, you will be automatically switched over to Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council (NOPEC) to avoid the increase.

NOPEC dropped all of its customers last August because of this very same issue.

NOPEC’s prices nearly doubled last year because of having to buy electricity on a very expensive open market.

The same has now happened to FirstEnergy.

Keep in mind, if you are a customer of FirstEnergy, Illuminating Company or Ohio Edison, your bill will still come from those companies.

There will still be a service charge of around $40 because FirstEnergy owns the powerlines, poles and your meter.

Finding Cheaper Electricity

To find out if your community will be scooped up by NOPEC, check out its community map.

Make sure you have a lightning bolt (electricity) next to your community.

When NOPEC resumes distributing energy in June of 2023, it will do so at the rate of 6.45 cents per kilowatt hour.

If you are not going to be reinstated as a NOPEC customer, you may have to go on the open market or call your community’s city services department to find out if your community signed on with another provider.

If you have already gone on the open market and purchased electricity, you are also covered.

If you need to find a new provider, check out this state run website to find and compare prices.

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