FirstEnergy Receives Industry Recognition for Outage Restoration Efforts

FirstEnergy Corp. has again earned special electric industry recognition from the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) for its expertise in responding to emergency conditions.

FirstEnergy was honored with the "Emergency Assistance Award" as a result of sending more than 175 line workers, additional support personnel and nearly 100 vehicles in late October of 2017 to assist several New England utilities when the remnants of Tropical Storm Phillippe spawned hurricane-force winds and flooding that resulted in wide-spread power outages in Maine, Vermont, Rhode Island and New York.  FirstEnergy personnel were part of an effort that ultimately helped restore electric service to more than one million customers who lost power during the autumn storm.  

FirstEnergy also earned the "Emergency Recovery Award" for restoration efforts on behalf of its own customers following the devastating impact of Winter Storm Riley and Winter Storm Quinn in early March of this year causing outages for a total of more than 1.2 million FirstEnergy customers in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Maryland.  The back-to-back nor'easters produced high winds and heavy, wet snow.  Overall, FirstEnergy's restoration effort, with the majority of damage in New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania, included nearly 1 million man-hours of work, with more than 1,300 poles, 400 miles of wire and 420 transformers being replaced.

"The dedicated crews from FirstEnergy are truly deserving of this recognition for their tremendous efforts to restore service in difficult conditions and to assist neighboring electric companies in times of need," said EEI President Tom Kuhn.  "FirstEnergy's restoration efforts and its assistance during these powerful storms illustrate our industry's unwavering commitment to serving our customers and to providing mutual assistance."

"These awards mark the 24th and 25th time FirstEnergy employees have been recognized for the considerable skills they use to benefit our own customers, and those of other utilities, during emergencies," said Samuel Belcher, senior vice president of FirstEnergy and president of FirstEnergy Utilities.  "The multiple nor'easters were especially challenging because the heavy snow caused extensive tree damage, which made accessing damage locations difficult."

EEI presents awards twice annually to member companies to recognize extraordinary efforts to restore power or for assisting other electric companies after service disruptions caused by severe weather conditions and other natural events.  Winners are chosen by a panel of judges following an international nomination process.  The awards were presented June 5, 2018, during the EEI annual convention in San Diego.

EEI is the association that represents all U.S. investor-owned electric companies.  Members provide electricity for 220 million Americans, and operate in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.  As a whole, the electric power industry supports more than 7 million jobs in communities across the United States.  In addition, EEI has more than 60 international electric companies as International Members, and hundreds of industry suppliers and related organizations as Associate Members.