Here's more on what new FirstEnergy credits, settlement mean for you ❘ Betty Lin-Fisher
9-6-23 update: A second round of e-mails from the class-action settlement administrator — using a different email address — has gone out to consumers' emails eligible for the digital settlement. Eric Miller, senior vice president for A.B. Data, the claims administrator for the settlement, confirmed to me on 9-5-23: "We tried a different email address on the reminder emails to those that have not redeemed their payments. We are updating the home page of the website and making it really stand out to show the email addresses to avoid confusion." The two legitimate emails are: rewards@reward.tremendous.com or OhioLitigationRewards@rewards.tremendous.comThe website for more information is https://www.ohioelectricitylitigation.com/
8-30-23 update: Physical debit cards have begun arriving in the mail from the class-action settlement administrator to FirstEnergy customers whose email the utility did not have. Follow the directions on the letter to activate your card online or by phone. To activate your card by phone, call 888-853-0223. The first option after activating the card by phone is an option to ask for the balance. If you have issues, call card services customer service at 833-249-7650. If you are still having issues or have not gotten your card or email for digital card by the end of August or have other questions, call the settlement administrator hotline at 877-888-9895.
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If you missed a story of mine on Aug. 18, an email that many FirstEnergy customers received in late July/early August is not a scam and is a legitimate little bit of money from a class-action lawsuit.
I’ll review a bit about that settlement and also give you some more tips that I learned this week about the best way to use the digital credit, which has some restrictions, as well as how you can request a physical debit card or paper check instead.
But the settlement also got me wondering what other credits consumers may be getting or have gotten as a result of Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp. and its involvement in the House Bill 6 bribery scandal. There have been several cases, so it can be difficult to keep them all straight.
FirstEnergy class-action settlement distribution payouts
Let’s start with the most recent news and settlement payouts.
The settlement is one of many in various court cases surrounding the scandal. The public corruption case led to the conviction and sentencing this year of former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and Matt Borges, former chair of the Ohio Republican Party.
The scandal involved $61 million in bribe money paid by FirstEnergy via dark money groups to help Householder seize political power and, in turn, pass and defend the H.B. 6 bailout law. The law provided a $1.3 billion bailout of struggling nuclear plants owned by FirstEnergy's former subsidiary FirstEnergy Solutions, to be paid for by Ohio utility customers.
Settlement Yes, suspicious email of free money in FirstEnergy case is legit and not a scam
About a week and a half ago, FirstEnergy customers began receiving an email with the subject: “Ohio Electricity Litigation: Your Digital Payment is Ready.” The email from rewards@reward.tremendous.com said a distribution from a net settlement is now available via a virtual prepaid card.
Any FirstEnergy accounts that the utility had email addresses for were notified of the settlement by email. Those emails offered a digital form payment be in a pre-paid debit card. Physical debit cards should be in the mail for customers who FirstEnergy did not have email addresses for, Dennis Murray, one of the plaintiff’s attorneys in the case said. Physical checks will be sent to customers who have a $250 settlement amount.
Rightly so, many consumers assumed the email was a scam. I often educate people to avoid unsolicited emails that promise you free money. Murray acknowledged the email could be mistaken for a scam, but notifying people by email and offering a digital payment form was the quickest and most efficient way to get people their money. Murray said attorneys tried to get the settlement payments as a FirstEnergy bill credit instead of settlements that customers had to claim, but were unsuccessful.
And let’s be clear, this isn’t a lot of money for most people. The payments range from $1 to $250, but the $250 range is for commercial users. The average payout is $16 when you factor in all accounts, but most readers have told me that their settlement has been about $7 and some change. Some have commented that it’s not worth the time or effort to use, or they joked that they’re heading to Vegas with it.
Earlier in the week, a few readers lamented to me that the digital credits only allowed them to purchase something online, not in a retail store and some retailers don’t allow a split payment. So for instance, if you have something that costs $10, you can’t use your $7 credit to pay for it and another form of payment for the rest. Amazon seemed to be the largest culprit of this, which some customers thought meant you’d have to find something for exactly that amount on your virtual credit or leave some money unused on the card, which wasn’t fair.
But there was vague reference in the settlement email that a customer could use the prepaid credit reload an Amazon cash balance.
I played around with it a bit and found some frequently asked questions on the pre-paid card, Tremendous, website and let Murray and the settlement administrator know, so some updated instructions have been added to the settlement website’s FAQS at https://www.ohioelectricitylitigation.com/
The bottom line is it’s an extra step, but you will use your virtual settlement credit as the payment to “buy” or “reload” your Amazon balance and then you can do a split payment on Amazon using that balance and another form of credit to make your purchase.
Tips and more information about the FirstEnergy class-action settlement
In talking with Murray, the attorney, and Eric Miller, senior vice president for A.B. Data, the claims administrator for the settlement, here are a few more good pieces of information:
If you deleted your email or you don't have email and have moved addresses, contact the settlement hotline at info@OhioElectricityLitigation.com or contact the toll-free telephone at 877-888-9895.
If you don’t see an email and didn’t delete it or you haven’t gotten your physical debit card in the mail if FirstEnergy didn’t have your email address, payments are rolling out in batches until the end of August. If by the end of August you don’t see an email or the debit card in the mail, contact the hotline or email.
If you want to request an alternative form of payment besides the digital payment, like the physical debit card (which you should be able to use as a split payment in a physical retail store) or a check, there are instructions at the bottom of the email.
A second notice will go to emails and mailing addresses for customers who don’t claim their settlements at a later date. According to the court order, if after at least 180 days have passed since initial distribution and reasonable attempts have been made to pay out the class-action settlements, If after a certain amount of time, the attorneys are to go back to court to request what’s called a “Cy Press distribution,” which Murray says means the funds could be donated to a charity. No funds will be returned to FirstEnergy, Murray confirmed.
What other credits are consumers getting from FirstEnergy or the House Bill 6 scandal?
Customers received an average $10.50 credit in late 2021 on their bills called the “Conservation Support Rider” after FirstEnergy and the Ohio Attorney General agreed to a settlement to forgo a fee called “decoupling” that was included in the House Bill 6 language.
Customers did not directly benefit on their bills from a $230 million fine in a deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S Attorney’s office in July 2021 for House Bill 6. That money was split equally between the U.S. Treasury and the Ohio Percentage of Payment Income Payment Plan Plus Program to benefit lower-income Ohio utility customers. FirstEnergy cannot charge its customers to pay its fines.
This credit does not have to do directly with the House Bill 6 scandal, but in November 2021, FirstEnergy agreed a $306 million refund to customers after earning more than Ohio regulators intended in a settlement reached with consumer advocates and business groups. That resulted in a $26.91 one-time bill credit for residential customers in January 2022 called the “consumer rate credit rider” for $96 million to residential and commercial customers. The remaining $210 million would be refunded as a bill credit over the next several years. A FirstEnergy spokeswoman said the amount was approximately $1.87 per month in 2022 for residential customers and for 2023, that will be $1.45 per month.
In February 2022, FirstEnergy was told it must submit a plan to refund customers for millions of dollars in lobbying costs tied to the nuclear bailout bill, according to a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) audit. FirstEnergy said told me this week that it is implementing the refunds identified in the report and "has identified a total of approximately $4.99 million in refunds that will be provided to customers across FirstEnergy (not just in Ohio.)”
There are still four pending cases in front of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio regarding House Bill 6, a spokesman said. Those are currently on hold or “stayed” at the request of the U.S. attorney, who two weeks ago asked for another six-month stay.
There could still be more cases that come up and I may have missed some as I focused on ones that resulted in consumer credits, but did my best get round them up using information from contacts at FirstEnergy, the PUCO and other sources.
Beacon Journal consumer columnist Betty Lin-Fisher can be reached at 330-996-3724 or blinfisher@thebeaconjournal.com Follow her @blinfisherABJ on Twitter or www.facebook.com/BettyLinFisherABJ and see all her stories at www.tinyurl.com/bettylinfisher
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Betty Lin-Fisher explains latest FirstEnergy credits and settlements
