READING, Pa., May 17, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Service has been
restored to more than 45,000 Metropolitan Edison Company (Met-Ed)
customers who lost power following the damaging thunderstorms that
hit the region late Monday. Currently, approximately 14,000
customers remain out of service from wind gusts approaching 70 mph,
with the hardest hit areas including Stroudsburg and Easton.
The restoration effort includes more than 1,500 Met-Ed linemen,
electrical contractors, FirstEnergy utility personnel, damage
assessors, hazard responders, forestry supervisors, and dispatchers
that are on the ground. Additional resources also are en
route. To handle the influx of outside workers, Met-Ed has
set up a staging site in Shawnee, an area that sustained
substantial damage to the electric system.
The main priority for Met-Ed is making repairs to a major
substation in the Shawnee area of Smithfield Township, in Monroe County, and a 34.5-kilovolt power line
that connects the substation to the grid. About 17 broken
poles will need to be replaced, downed wire re-strung, and
cross-arms, transformers and other equipment replaced as part of
this labor-intensive rebuild effort. Because this substation
is in a remote area, specialized, off-road tracked vehicles are
being brought in to help expedite the restoration process as a
number of the downed poles are in a swampy area.
Due to this significant damage, 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.
"Our restoration efforts continue to be challenged by the rainy
conditions, which have hampered our ability to use helicopters to
patrol some of the more remote damage locations," said Ed Shuttleworth, regional president of
Met-Ed. "Met-Ed personnel, assisted by other FirstEnergy and
contractor resources, will continue to work around the clock to
safety restore service to our 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
Met-Ed also is providing ice and water at three Giant Food Store
locations. 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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837 Male Rd, Wind
Gap, Pa. 18091
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301 Town Center Blvd,
Forks, Pa. 18040
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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.