Ohio Edison to install smart meters throughout Fairlawn

FAIRLAWN, Ohio — FirstEnergy/Ohio Edison will install smart electric meters throughout Fairlawn, according to a notice posted by the city on Aug. 8, 2026.

The announcement means residents and businesses may see utility workers and meter replacements at properties across the city. The available notice does not say when installation will begin, how long the work will take, how replacements will be handled or how customers will be contacted.

It also does not establish whether the project will change electric rates, billing amounts or service. The city’s announcement identifies the planned meter installation but does not say that any particular customer’s meter has already been replaced.

What the city has announced

Fairlawn’s official website identifies FirstEnergy/Ohio Edison as the utility responsible for installing the smart meters throughout the city. The notice does not provide a detailed construction or replacement schedule.

Smart meters can change how electric usage is measured and how service information is delivered. However, the available city information does not support a conclusion that the meters will lower or raise bills, or that customers will experience a specific billing or service change.

Residents and businesses with questions about access to a property, replacement procedures or timing will need additional information from the city or utility because those details were not included in the accessible notice.

Upcoming city meetings and utility information

The city website lists a Fairlawn Planning Commission meeting for Aug. 13, 2026. The available material does not say that the meeting will address the smart-meter installation.

Fairlawn’s official agenda center also lists a City Council agenda and a Committee of the Whole agenda for July 13, 2026. Both agendas were posted July 9. Those listings provide municipal meeting information but do not establish an installation deadline or confirm a decision about customer rates.

The smart-meter project is separate from Fairlawn’s natural-gas aggregation program. That program uses Archer Energy and describes a variable-price formula of the NYMEX last-day settlement plus $0.45 per Mcf. The city’s posted utility information lists a July 2026 reference rate of $3.681. The August value was not filled in on the accessible page.

As of the Aug. 8 notice, the next known city date is the Planning Commission meeting on Aug. 13. No installation start date, completion date or customer-notification deadline has been provided in the available information.