Ohio Power Company is adding a new surcharge to customers who pay from the bank without bank autopay

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio (WKRC) – An Ohio-based power company has added a surcharge to customers who pay their bill from a bank account without autopay.

According to WFMJ, FirstEnergy Corp, an electric utility company and parent company of Ohio Edison, has added a surcharge to its customers who pay their monthly bill from their checking accounts.

Speaking to the Station about the new policy, a FirstEnergy spokesperson explained that its new third-party electronic payment processor, ACI SpeedPay, charges the company a 50-cent per transaction fee for one-time payments.

Those who used their bank routing numbers but were not enrolled in autopay were not previously charged service fees by Ohio Edison.

The following residential customers enrolled in auto payments will not be charged, according to WFMJ:

• Those who use autopay credit card programs

• Those who use autopay bank account programs

• Commercial customers enrolled in the Autopay Bank account

“By processing electronic payments through a third-party provider, we can seamlessly maintain compliance and better serve our customers by continuing to offer additional payment options,” the Ohio Edison spokesperson told WFMJ.

According to the station, Ohio Edison now offers more ways to pay, including Paypal and Venmo.

If you are an Ohio Edison customer who has any questions or concerns, you can contact the company by calling its customer service line at 1-800-633-4766 or sending an email through its official website.