FirstEnergy Corp. has secured $50 million in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Energy's Grid Deployment Office. This funding is intended to improve electric service reliability for over 53,000 Mon Power and Potomac Edison customers across West Virginia and Maryland. The initiative is part of the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) Program established by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
The grant will contribute to system upgrades valued at nearly $127 million, affecting around 50,660 customers in West Virginia and 2,500 in Maryland. FirstEnergy aims to complete these improvements by late 2029 through its subsidiaries Mon Power and Potomac Edison.
These enhancements involve installing new technology to reduce outage frequency and duration, benefiting more than 450 critical facilities such as schools and hospitals. Jim Myers, Vice President of FirstEnergy's West Virginia and Maryland Operations, expressed gratitude for the support: "We are deeply grateful to receive this funding from the Grid Deployment Office, which will support system enhancements that help keep the lights on for thousands of customers and hundreds of critical facilities across our service territory."
Key components of the upgrade include smart devices on power lines for remote damage isolation, automation projects for automatic switching during outages, and new wires capable of carrying increased electrical current.
In Mon Power's area, approximately 47,260 customers across multiple counties will benefit from these upgrades. Meanwhile, Potomac Edison's service area improvements will impact about 3,400 customers in West Virginia counties Berkeley, Jefferson, Mineral and an additional 2,500 customers in Western Maryland.
A new four-year apprenticeship program is also part of this project with training centers located in Williamsport, Maryland, and Fairmont, West Virginia. This program addresses the need for line workers and substation electricians by offering apprentices paid employment starting with their training.
Earlier this year, Mon Power received $5 million from the Department of Energy’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations aimed at enhancing service reliability in rural West Virginia areas.
Mon Power serves roughly 395,000 customers across 34 counties in West Virginia while Potomac Edison serves about 285,000 customers in seven Maryland counties plus another 155,000 in West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle.
FirstEnergy focuses on integrity and operational excellence within one of America's largest investor-owned electric systems serving six states with a transmission network spanning approximately 24 thousand miles connecting Midwest to Mid-Atlantic regions.
For further information contact Will Boye or Gina Caskey at their respective numbers provided above.