Service to Majority of Jersey Central Power & Light Customers to Be Restored by Saturday

MORRISTOWN, N.J., Nov. 9, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- More than 14,500 FirstEnergy (NYSE: FE) professionals, outside contractors and utility workers are restoring service to Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) customers following last week's Hurricane Sandy and this week's nor'easter. 

Approximately 168,000 JCP&L customers in New Jersey remain without power.  Since yesterday, crews restored power to approximately 100,000 customers. 

Today, an additional 1,200 line workers are traveling to New Jersey from the northeast to join nearly 7,000 line workers already on the ground.  With these additional resources, the majority of customers who do not have power, including those who experienced new outages as a result of the nor'easter, will have power restored by Saturday evening.  In some communities where service wires to individual homes must be replaced, power will be restored by Sunday evening.  Devastated areas, mostly in the barrier islands where crews were not able to begin service restoration until recently, will extend into next week.

In West Virginia, more than 3,000 utility workers, including 1,300 linemen, continue to repair damage caused by high wind and wet, heavy snow in the higher elevations.  Crews have replaced more than 600 distribution poles and work continues to replace an additional 400-plus poles, of which 220 are off-road poles. Currently, approximately 11,700 Mon Power customers remain without service, and power has been restored to about 230,000 customers affected by the storm. Restoration for customers in the most heavily damaged areas, including parts of Barbour, Nicholas, Preston, Randolph, Tucker, Upshur and Webster counties should be completed by the end of the weekend.

As restoration work continues, customers are cautioned never to touch downed lines.  Always assume downed wires are carrying electricity and keep children and pets away from them.  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.  They should wait for emergency services or utility crews to arrive.

To report an outage, customers should call 1-888-LIGHTSS (1-888-544-4877).  If power has been restored to your neighbors, but your power remains out, be sure to report the outage.  The issue could be isolated to an individual home and require further repairs.

To ensure the safety of the home's occupants as well as that of utility company employees who may be working on power lines in the area, the proper generator should be selected and installed by a qualified electrician.  When operating a generator, always disconnect the power coming into the home so power from the generator is not sent back onto the utility company lines, creating a hazardous situation for utility workers.

For updated information on the company's current outages, FirstEnergy's storm restoration process and tips for staying safe, visit the 24/7 Power Center at www.firstenergycorp.com/outages.  JCP&L customers can find the latest information on Facebook at www.facebook.com/JCPandL.  FirstEnergy operating companies also are providing updates via Twitter @JCP_L and @MonPowerWV.

FirstEnergy is a diversified energy company dedicated to safety, reliability and operational excellence.  Its 10 electric distribution companies form one of the nation's largest investor-owned electric systems, serving customers in Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and West Virginia.  Its generation subsidiaries control more than 20,000 megawatts of capacity from a diversified mix of scrubbed coal, non-emitting nuclear, natural gas, hydro, pumped-storage hydro and other renewables. 

Follow FirstEnergy on Twitter @FirstEnergyCorp.

SOURCE FirstEnergy