ERIE, Pa., June 24, 2024 -- With the hot, humid summer months expected to produce higher electric usage and potentially severe weather, FirstEnergy Pennsylvania Electric Company (FE PA), a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE) doing business in northern and central Pennsylvania as Penelec, is completing inspections and conducting proactive equipment maintenance across its service area to help enhance service reliability for customers.
John Hawkins, FirstEnergy's President, Pennsylvania stated: "We proactively inspect and maintain our equipment to help ensure our system is prepared for increased electrical demand when temperatures climb. These important measures will also help to minimize the length and impact of service interruptions should summer storms cause power outages."
Penelec crews are wrapping up inspections of its local energy delivery system to ensure electrical equipment is ready to perform reliably with elevated summer electrical demand, typically due to air conditioning usage.
Substation electricians use thermovision cameras during summer-readiness inspections to capture infrared images, helping detect potential problems within substations and on power lines that cannot be observed during regular visual inspections. These images can identify equipment issues such as loose connections, corrosion, and load imbalances, allowing utility workers to make repairs to prevent potential power outages in the future.
In addition, helicopter patrols have completed inspections of more than 2,500 miles of power lines owned by Mid-Atlantic Interstate Transmission, LLC (MAIT), a FirstEnergy Corp. transmission subsidiary located in the Penelec area. The inspections identify damaged wire, broken cross arms and other hardware problems not visible from the ground. Any potential reliability issues identified during the inspections will be addressed.
Since the beginning of the year, tree contractors have trimmed along 1,225 miles of power lines as part of FirstEnergy's vegetation management program in the Penelec area. Work remains on schedule to complete an additional 3,000 miles by the end of the year. Maintaining proper clearances around electrical equipment is critical to providing safe, reliable electric service and can help reduce the frequency and duration of tree-related power outages.
Trees are being trimmed in these counties and communities:
Bedford – Bedford
Blair – Altoona, East Freedom, Claysburg, Roaring Spring
Bradford – Towanda, Troy
Cambria – Spangler
Clearfield – Dubois
Crawford – Canadohta Lake
Erie – Union City
Franklin – Spring Run
Huntingdon – Mapleton
Indiana – Heilwood
Jefferson – Brookville
Juniata – Honey Grove
McKean – Lewis Run
Mifflin – Milroy
Somerset – Friedens
Susquehanna – Brooklyn
Tioga – Wellsboro
Venango – Franklin
Warren – Warren
Wyoming – Laceyville
In addition to equipment inspections and maintenance work nearing completion in these areas ahead of anticipated higher demand during summer months storm drills were also conducted recently by personnel testing restoration processes following extreme weather events now becoming increasingly common across utility industries nationwide.
With rising temperatures come increasing energy costs so customers encouraged follow some simple tips beat heat manage their electricity bills effectively this season including setting thermostats high using fans closing drapes or blinds windows facing sun preventing direct radiant heating impacting interior temperatures using programmable smart thermostats keeping them high no one home reducing temperature before arrival back sealing leaks caulk weather stripping checking air conditioner furnace fan filters avoiding heat-producing appliances hottest hours day less work air conditioner must do
Payment arrangements assistance programs available those needing help paying their electric bills visit firstenergycorp.com/billassist more information
Penelec serves approximately 597000 customers within 17600 square miles northern central Pennsylvania Follow Penelec X formerly known Twitter @Penelec Facebook facebook.com/PenelecElectric
FirstEnergy dedicated integrity safety reliability operational excellence Its electric distribution companies form one nation's largest investor-owned systems serving Ohio Pennsylvania New Jersey West Virginia Maryland New York company's transmission subsidiaries operate approximately 24000 miles connecting Midwest Mid-Atlantic regions Follow FirstEnergy online firstenergycorp.com X @FirstEnergyCorp
Editor's Note Photos workers conducting thermovision inspections enhancing service reliability available download Flickr CONTACT News Media Contact Todd Meyers (724)838-6650 Investor Relations Contact Gina Caskey (330)761-4185
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