FirstEnergy plans minuscule rate cut

FirstEnergy Corp.'s Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station in Oak Harbor, Ohio.

CLEVELAND — FirstEnergy Corp.’s delivery rates will fall in March — by about 83 cents a month on average for consumers -- to reflect the company’s lower federal tax rate.

The minuscule reduction proposed by the company and approved this week by state regulators is the tax savings for a special add-on rate approved in 2016 to collect an extra $204 million a year from the company’s 1.9 million Ohio customers for up to five years, ostensibly for upgrades to the local distribution grid.

FirstEnergy owns Toledo Edison, the primary electric service provider in metro Toledo.

As for a major reduction in the company’s overall delivery rates to reflect the new 21 percent federal tax rate — and a refund of money now being collected based on the old 35 percent tax rate — FirstEnergy says that’s out of the question.