Mon Power and Potomac Edison, subsidiaries of FirstEnergy Corp., are advancing with five projects aimed at improving electric service reliability for nearly 8,700 customers in rural West Virginia. These efforts are expected to be completed by the end of 2024 and focus on reducing outage frequency and duration, especially during severe weather conditions.
These initiatives form part of a three-year infrastructure investment pilot program approved by the Public Service Commission of West Virginia earlier this year. The program includes constructing backup power lines to maintain service when regular lines are compromised and relocating hard-to-access power lines to facilitate quicker restoration times.
Jim Myers, Vice President of FirstEnergy's West Virginia and Maryland Operations, stated: "Our three-year infrastructure investment pilot program will make a meaningful impact for customers in our rural communities by reducing their exposure to outages and helping ensure they have safe, reliable power to support their lives."
The projects represent $1.5 million in infrastructure investments and include several key developments:
- In Berkeley County, a 1.8-mile backup power line is being reinforced and rewired to benefit 2,577 Potomac Edison customers in Inwood.
- In Marion, Monongalia, and Preston counties, a half-mile length of power line is being relocated from a ravine to an accessible area via bucket truck. This project will aid 2,091 customers in Fairmont, Gladesville, Hebron, and Ringgold.
- Nicholas County will see the conversion of 2.2 miles of a power line from 4-kilovolt (kV) voltage to 12-kV for improved reliability affecting 821 customers in Richwood.
- Pocahontas and Greenbrier counties will have a half-mile length of power line moved from a cliffside location benefiting 1,707 customers across Renick, Modoc, Rorer, Horrock, Droop, Spice Hillboro.
- Summers County involves relocating one mile of power line from a cliffside area benefiting 1,472 customers in Browning Wiggins Forest Hill.
Mon Power provides services to about 395 thousand customers across thirty-four counties within West Virginia while Potomac Edison serves around two hundred eighty-five thousand clients seven Maryland counties plus another one hundred fifty-five thousand located Eastern Panhandle region state
FirstEnergy emphasizes integrity safety reliability operational excellence through its electric distribution companies forming among largest investor-owned systems nationwide serving over six million people Ohio Pennsylvania New Jersey Maryland York company's transmission subsidiaries operate approximately twenty-four thousand miles connecting Midwest MidAtlantic regions
For further information contact Will Boye news media inquiries (301)7906420 Gina Caskey investor relations (330)7614185