FirstEnergy Pennsylvania Electric Company (FE PA), a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp., is upgrading its power system in Allegheny County, Western Pennsylvania. The initiative aims to reduce service interruptions during severe weather by installing remote-controlled devices along power lines serving approximately 4,900 customers in Oakdale, North Fayette Township, and Findlay Township.
John Hawkins, FirstEnergy President for Pennsylvania, stated: “We continue to invest in new technologies and equipment to provide safe and dependable electric service for our customers. This project features remote-controlled switches that will allow us to quickly reconfigure our network when a power line is out of service.”
The project includes the installation of 12 remote-controlled reclosing devices along three neighborhood power lines. These devices function similarly to circuit breakers but have the added advantage of automatically restoring power within seconds for certain types of outages. They also isolate outages and limit the number of affected customers if a more serious issue arises.
Photos of the newly installed devices on Steubenville Pike near Oakdale are available online. The equipment replaces older technology that required manual operation by line workers. Most installations were completed over the summer, with full completion expected by November.
This upgrade is part of FE PA’s Long Term Infrastructure Improvement Plan (LTIIP II), a $147 million investment aimed at enhancing electric distribution reliability over five years. It aligns with Energize365, FirstEnergy’s broader grid evolution program investing $26 billion between 2024 and 2028 across six states.
West Penn Power serves about 725,000 customers across central and southwestern Pennsylvania. More information can be found on their social media platforms.
FirstEnergy serves over six million customers across several states and operates around 24,000 miles of transmission lines. Follow them online for updates.
For further inquiries, contact Todd Meyers at (724) 838-6650 or Gina Caskey at (330) 761-4185.
