Met-Ed Restoring Major Power Lines Following Severe Winter Storm

READING, Pa., March 6, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Metropolitan Edison Company (Met-Ed) has today deployed more than 750 line workers to its eastern Pennsylvania service area to focus on making repairs to the high-voltage system that feeds power to local electric networks.

"Following a devastating storm like this one, we complete our repair work in stages," said Ed Shuttleworth, regional president of Met-Ed.  "We expect to restore a significant number of customers over the next two days because a single repair on these major power lines can affect thousands of customers."

Met-Ed is also closely monitoring a second major storm forecasted to move up the East Coast on Wednesday, and will keep all personnel in place to efficiently respond to any additional damage. While the company hopes to restore power to customers in the hardest-hit areas of Monroe, Northampton and Pike counties by late Wednesday night, additional heavy, wet snow may hamper those efforts.

About 202,000 customers have been restored since the storm first hit.  Currently, approximately 28,000 customers remain out of service. 

As part of its storm restoration process, Met-Ed has taken the following steps:

• Ramped up storm updates on social media and on the company website.  Follow Met-Ed on Twitter @Met Ed and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MetEdElectric.
• Aired radio ads telling customers how to prepare for storms
• Initiated update calls with officials   
• Communicated with emergency management officials, state officials, regulators, and local officials about storm restoration efforts
• Staffed additional dispatchers and analysts at regional dispatch offices

Met-Ed also is offering free water and ice to customers remaining out of service.  Most customers can pick up water and ice at the following locations: 

• Giant Food Store, 3560 Route 611, Stroudsburg, PA
• Giant Food Store, 837 Male Road, Windgap, PA
• Giant Food Store, 859 Nazareth Pike, Nazareth, PA

In Pike County, ice is currently available at no charge at the following locations:

• Dingmans Volunteer Fire Department, 680 Log Tavern Road, Milford, PA
• Bushkill Volunteer Fire Department, 123 Evergreen Drive, Bushkill, PA

Met-Ed reminds customers to immediately report downed wires to their utility at 888-LIGHTSS (888-544-4877), or to their local police or fire department.  Customers should never go near a downed wire even if they think it is no longer carrying electricity.  Extra caution should be used in areas where downed lines are tangled in trees or other debris.

Met-Ed, a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE), serves approximately 560,000 customers in 15 Pennsylvania counties.  Follow Met-Ed on Twitter @Met Ed and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MetEdElectric.

FirstEnergy is dedicated to safety, reliability and operational excellence.  Its 10 electric distribution companies form one of the nation's largest investor-owned electric systems, serving customers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, Maryland and New York.  The company's transmission subsidiaries operate more than 24,000 miles of transmission lines that connect the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions.  Visit FirstEnergy online at www.firstenergycorp.com and follow on Twitter @FirstEnergyCorp.

Editor's Note:  Photos of workers repairing storm damage are available for download on Flickr.

SOURCE FirstEnergy Corp.