READING, Pa., May 16, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Service has
been restored to approximately 39,000 Metropolitan Edison Company
(Met-Ed) customers who lost power following the damaging
thunderstorms that produced wind gusts approaching 70 mph as it
blew across the Mid-Atlantic region late yesterday.
Currently, approximately 20,000 Met-Ed customers remain out of
service in eastern Pennsylvania,
with more than 18,000 of those customers located in the
Stroudsburg and Easton areas. Crews are addressing
safety hazards and making progress restoring customers.
The high winds caused significant damage to a major Met-Ed
substation in Shawnee, in Monroe
County, including damage to poles, wires, and transformers
along a 34.5-kilovolt power line that is connected to the
substation. At least a dozen poles are broken and there are
multiple spans of downed wire, broken cross-arms, and other damaged
equipment that will need to be replaced. The assessment
process was delayed due to fog grounding helicopters that would
normally have been used to patrol the difficult to access
area.
As a result, Met-Ed expects customers in the Easton area to be restored by late Friday, and
customers in the Stroudsburg area
to be restored by late Saturday.
The restoration effort includes about 1,247 Met-Ed linemen,
electrical contractors, FirstEnergy utility personnel, damage
assessors, hazard responders, forestry supervisors, and dispatchers
that are on the ground or en route. Met-Ed also is working
with several utility mutual assistance organizations to obtain
additional resources.
"The severe winds resulted in significant tree-related damage to
the entire Met-Ed system, including dozens of broken poles and
downed wires that will need to be replaced," said Ed Shuttleworth, regional president of
Met-Ed. "Our restoration times reflect the widespread damage,
in particular the time it will take to make repairs around the
substation in Shawnee that provides power to more than 10,000
customers."
As part of its storm restoration process, Met-Ed has taken the
following steps:
- Ramped up storm updates on social media and on the company
website. Follow Met-Ed on Twitter @Met Ed and on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/MetEdElectric.
- Communicated with emergency management officials, state
officials, regulators, and local officials about storm restoration
efforts
- Staffed additional dispatchers and analysts at regional
dispatch offices
Effective as of 6 p.m. tonight,
Met-Ed is providing ice and water at three Giant Food Store
locations.
Met-Ed customers who are without power can receive up to 2-8 lb.
bags of ice and up to 3 gallons of water per household per day.
Store
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Address
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6093
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837 Male Rd, Wind
Gap, Pa. 18091
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6330
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301 Town Center Blvd,
Forks, Pa. 18040
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6455
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3560 Route 611, Suite
105, Stroudsburg, Pa. 18321
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Met-Ed reminds customers to immediately report downed wires to
their utility at 888-LIGHTSS (888-544-4877), or to their local
police or fire department. Customers should never go near a
downed wire even if they think it is no longer carrying
electricity. Extra caution should be used in areas where
downed lines are tangled in trees or other debris.
After local power lines are repaired and put back in service,
damage to individual customer service wires may become
apparent. Customers are reminded that if their neighbor's
power is on and theirs is not, the problem may be isolated to their
individual service, and service to the neighbor could be fed from a
different circuit. Customers are encouraged to report such
problems, even at this latter stage in the restoration process.
Met-Ed, a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE), serves
approximately 560,000 customers in 15 Pennsylvania counties.
Follow Met-Ed on Twitter @Met Ed and on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/MetEdElectric.
FirstEnergy is 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 Ohio, Pennsylvania, New
Jersey, West Virginia,
Maryland and New York. The
company's transmission subsidiaries operate more than 24,000 miles
of transmission lines that connect the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic
regions. Follow FirstEnergy on Twitter @FirstEnergyCorp or online
at www.firstenergycorp.com.
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SOURCE FirstEnergy Corp.