FirstEnergy Pennsylvania Electric Company (FE PA), a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE) operating in eastern Pennsylvania as Met-Ed, has recently concluded its annual emergency preparation drill. The exercise aimed to test the company's storm restoration process for potential severe weather-related outages in its extensive and heavily wooded service area.
The storm drill saw participation both remotely and in-person at Met-Ed's Reading headquarters. This hybrid approach mirrors how employees manage real-life restoration activities using electronic storm tools to coordinate fieldwork. The drill was designed to prepare employees for storm restoration duties and review essential restoration processes and storm-management tools that are crucial for safely and promptly restoring power.
Scott Wyman, President of FirstEnergy's Pennsylvania Operations, stated, "Storm drills provide our employees a controlled, no-fault forum to practice and sharpen their skills in preparation for severe weather, including summer thunderstorms packing strong wind gusts. Regular emergency drills are another way we work to improve electric service for our customers, in addition to tree trimming and projects we do to harden our electric infrastructure and enhance its resiliency."
The primary scenario of the drill simulated severe weather with organized lines of powerful June thunderstorms capable of producing gusts greater than 70 mph sweeping across Pennsylvania and New Jersey. These gusts toppled trees, causing widespread damage to poles and wires and disrupting electric service to more than 400,000 of Met-Ed's 592,000 customers.
The drill also included a hypothetical second issue involving significant damage to two electric substations, communications lines, and equipment. Participants had to quickly devise safe and efficient power restoration strategies for customers following the storm knowing that the substations would not be available.
As part of the training, Met-Ed activated its Incident Command System (ICS), a nationally recognized emergency management process used by all levels of government – federal, state, local – as well as many non-governmental organizations and the private sector to coordinate responses to major storms or other natural disasters.
In the aftermath of a significant weather event, Met-Ed crews follow a proven restoration process. They typically address outages that restore the largest number of customers before moving to more isolated problems. Priority is generally given to hospitals and other critical medical facilities, communications facilities, and emergency response agencies. After that, crews work to restore power as quickly as possible to the rest of the customers.
For more information about FirstEnergy's storm restoration process and safety tips, visit the 24/7 Power Center at firstenergycorp.com/outages.
Met-Ed serves approximately 592,000 customers within 3,300 square miles of eastern and southeastern Pennsylvania. Follow Met-Ed on X, formerly known as Twitter, @Met Ed and on Facebook at facebook.com/MetEdElectric.
FirstEnergy is committed to integrity, safety, reliability, and operational excellence. Its 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 approximately 24,000 miles of transmission lines that connect the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions. Visit FirstEnergy online at firstenergycorp.com and follow FirstEnergy on X @FirstEnergyCorp.