FirstEnergy Utilities Restore Service to More Than 80 Percent of Customers Affected by Damaging Snowstorm

AKRON, Ohio, Nov. 2, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- More than 6,600 employees from Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L), Metropolitan Edison (Met-Ed), Potomac Edison and other FirstEnergy (NYSE: FE) utilities, along with outside contractors and utilities, continue their around-the-clock efforts to restore service to utility customers following a severe weekend snowstorm that left more than 817,000 customers without power in northern New Jersey, Maryland, West Virginia and throughout Pennsylvania.

FirstEnergy is receiving additional support from utility crews and contractors from Alabama, Michigan and South Carolina to restore electric service.  Estimated restoration times are as follows:

• JCP&L:  95 percent of the customers who lost power in northern New Jersey will be restored by midnight Thursday.  There could be isolated cases continuing into the weekend in some hard-hit neighborhoods.  Approximately 285,000 customers – about 75 percent of those affected – have been restored.
• Met-Ed:  95 percent of the 270,000 customers who lost power in eastern Pennsylvania will be restored by midnight Friday, with the remainder through the weekend.  Approximately 238,000 customers – or nearly 90 percent of all affected by the storm – have been restored.
• Potomac Edison: Crews are working to fully restore the 400 remaining customers in western Maryland and eastern West Virginia by midnight tonight.

"We're bringing every available resource to the task of restoring power to our customers as quickly and safely as possible," said Mark Julian, vice president, Utility Operations, FirstEnergy Utilities.  "We're also working closely with customers as well as state and local officials to keep them informed regarding our service restoration progress."

In hard-hit areas of northern New Jersey, line crews are responding to more than 25,000 damage locations as a result of the storm.  Crews have also cleared downed trees on wires in more than 5,100 different locations, and have responded to over 7,600 hazard calls to clear downed wires and make the locations safe.

FirstEnergy's restoration efforts are performed using a priority system that addresses public safety first and restores power to the largest number of customers as quickly as possible.  Eliminating safety hazards is the highest priority.  Crews arrive at trouble locations, make the area safe, and move to other areas.  Once that is accomplished, crews begin to repair lines that supply power to crucial public safety facilities or large areas or groups of customers.  A line may be damaged in multiple locations, or at some distance from those who are out of service.  The linemen, tree crews, or other workers that customers see may be on their way to make higher-priority repairs, which must be completed before damages closer to a customer's home can be fixed.

After local power lines are repaired and put back in service, damage to individual customer service wires may become apparent.  If a neighbor's power is on and a customer's power is not, the problem may be isolated to a customer's individual service.  Service to the neighbor could be fed from a different circuit.  Still, it may be appropriate to report such problems, even if it is later in the restoration process.  

As debris from the storm continues to be cleared, customers are cautioned never to touch downed lines.  Customers should always assume downed wires are carrying electricity and are reminded to keep their children and pets away from downed wires.  Downed wires should be reported immediately to your electric company or local police or fire department. Customers should never try to remove trees or limbs from power lines because they could conduct electricity; instead, wait for emergency services or utility crews to arrive.  

For updated information on the company's restoration efforts, current outages, FirstEnergy's storm restoration process, or to sign up for Twitter updates, go to www.firstenergycorp.com.  To report a power outage, contact your local utility.  JCP&L, Penelec and Met-Ed customers should call the automated reporting line at 1-888-LIGHTSS (1-888-544-4877).  Potomac Edison customers should call 1-800-255-3443.  

FirstEnergy is a diversified energy company dedicated to safety, reliability and operational excellence.  Its 10 electric distribution companies comprise the nation's largest investor-owned electric system.  Its diverse generating fleet features non-emitting nuclear, scrubbed baseload coal, natural gas, and pumped-storage hydro and other renewables, and has a total generating capacity of nearly 23,000 megawatts.

SOURCE FirstEnergy Corp.