FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE) has received an Emergency Recovery Award from the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) for its exceptional efforts in restoring power to hundreds of thousands of customers across Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, and New Jersey following Winter Storms Finn and Gerri in January 2024. This marks the 19th consecutive year that FirstEnergy has been recognized by EEI for its storm response initiatives.
On January 9, crews from various FirstEnergy subsidiaries including Illuminating Company, Ohio Edison, Penn Power, Penelec, West Penn Power, Met-Ed, Mon Power, Potomac Edison, and JCP&L faced significant challenges posed by Winter Storm Finn. The storm resulted in widespread damage such as broken poles and crossarms, downed power lines, and blocked roads due to fallen trees and debris.
By January 11, FirstEnergy had restored power to 97% of the 373,000 customers affected by Winter Storm Finn. Shortly after this effort, the company responded to Winter Storm Gerri on January 12 which impacted an additional 192,000 customers with severe winds and heavy snow.
FirstEnergy's Emergency Response Plan mobilized thousands of line workers, hazard responders, forestry crews, contractors as well as safety and support personnel who collectively worked over 422,000 man-hours during both storms. They replaced a total of 927 poles, 625 transformers and approximately 72 miles of wire.
Wade Smith, President of FirstEnergy Utilities stated: "I am proud to accept this award on behalf of the dedicated FirstEnergy employees and others who worked safely and tirelessly around the clock during two consecutive severe winter weather events. The high winds and heavy precipitation created immense challenges for our crews as they navigated dangerous conditions to restore service to our customers in the wake of these storms."
The EEI presents awards biannually to member companies for extraordinary power restoration efforts or assistance provided to other electric companies during service disruptions caused by natural events. Winners are selected by a panel of judges through an international nomination process. The awards were presented at EEI’s summer Board of Directors and CEO meeting held alongside EEI 2024.
Dan Brouillette, President and CEO of EEI commented: “Ensuring the safety of our customers communities and crews is our industry’s top priority,and I commend FirstEnergy’s commitment to restoring service for its customers safely and efficiently under challenging conditions following Winter Storms Finnand Gerri.FirstEnergyanditsstormresponseteamareextremelydeservingofthisnationalrecognition,andIam honoredtopresentthemwiththiswell-earnedrecoveryaward.”
In June 2023 First Energy was also acknowledged for storm restoration efforts conducted in March that year.EEI represents all U.S.investor-ownedelectriccompanies.Membersprovideelectricityfor220millionAmericansandoperateinall50statesandtheDistrictofColumbia.Theelectricpowerindustrysupports7millionjobsacrosstheU.S.AdditionallyEEIhasmorethan65internationalelectriccompaniesasInternationalMembers,andhundredsofindustrysuppliersasAssociateMembers.
First Energyiscommittedtointegritysafetyreliabilityandoperationalexcellence.Itsdistributioncompaniesformoneofthelargestinvestor-ownedelectricsystemsservingcustomersinOhioPennsylvaniaNewJerseyWestVirginiaMarylandandNewYork.Thecompany’stransmissionsubsidiariesoperateapproximately24000milesoftransmissionlinesthatconnecttheMidwestandMid-Atlanticregions.FollowFirst EnergyonXformerlyknownasTwitter@First EnergyCorp oronlineatfirstenergycorp.com
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