FirstEnergy Pennsylvania Electric Company (FE PA), operating as Penelec in northern and central Pennsylvania, recently conducted an emergency preparation drill to test its storm restoration process. The exercise aimed to ensure efficient power restoration following severe weather events that could cause outages across its service area.
Participants engaged in the annual storm drill both remotely and at Penelec's facility in Clearfield, Pa., mirroring real-life restoration activities using electronic storm tools. The drill prepared employees for storm restoration duties and reviewed critical processes and tools for safely restoring power.
"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," said John Hawkins, FirstEnergy's President of Pennsylvania. "Regular emergency drills are another way we work to improve electric service for our customers."
The primary scenario involved June thunderstorms with gusts over 70 mph causing extensive damage to poles and wires, disrupting service to nearly 425,000 of Penelec's 597,000 customers. Additionally, participants faced a hypothetical issue with significant damage to circuit breakers and voltage-regulation equipment at two substations.
Penelec activated its Incident Command System (ICS) during the drill. ICS is a nationally recognized emergency management process used by various government levels and organizations to coordinate responses to major storms or natural disasters.
Following major weather events, Penelec crews prioritize restoring power to hospitals, critical medical facilities, communications facilities, and emergency response agencies before addressing other outages.
For more information about FirstEnergy's storm restoration process and safety tips, visit firstenergycorp.com/outages.
Penelec serves approximately 597,000 customers within 17,600 square miles of northern and central Pennsylvania. Follow Penelec on X @Penelec and on Facebook at facebook.com/PenelecElectric.
FirstEnergy operates one of the nation's largest investor-owned electric systems across Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, Maryland, and New York. Visit FirstEnergy online at firstenergycorp.com and follow them on X @FirstEnergyCorp.
A photo of FirstEnergy employees conducting a storm drill is available on Flickr.
News Media Contact: Todd Meyers (724) 838-6650; Investor Contact: Gina Caskey (330) 761-4185