Tree-Trimming Work Underway to Help Prevent or Minimize Power Outages Across Ohio Edison's Service Area

The company invests $26 million to reinforce the power grid during severe weather

AKRON, Ohio, May 15, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Ohio Edison, a FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE) subsidiary, is conducting tree trimming and other vegetation management work in communities across northeast and northcentral Ohio as part of the company's ongoing efforts to help enhance electric service reliability. This year's $26 million tree-trimming program will help keep power flowing to customers by helping to prevent tree-related outages, such as those that can occur during the spring and summer storm season.

Ohio Edison Logo (PRNewsfoto/FirstEnergy Corp.)

A video explaining and demonstrating tree-trimming work can be found on FirstEnergy's YouTube channel.

On the ground, contractors have trimmed trees along more than 600 miles of power lines across Ohio Edison's service area since the beginning of the year. The company is on track to complete an additional 4,200 miles of tree-trimming work by the end of the year. Similar work is performed annually by FirstEnergy transmission companies along high-voltage power lines in the company's service territory.

Pat Mullin, Acting President of FirstEnergy's Ohio Operations: "Trees are a leading cause of power outages, and we complete tree-trimming work each year to prevent tree-related outages during severe weather. This work, paired with the vast upgrades we've made to our local power system over recent years, undoubtedly helps minimize the impact of weather-related outages to keep the power flowing safely and reliably to customers."

Tree trimming is done on a four-year cycle. The work includes inspecting vegetation near power lines to ensure trees are pruned to preserve the health of the tree while also maintaining safe clearances. Trees that present a danger or are diseased may be removed.

This year, the work is being conducted in the following counties and communities:

Clark: New Carlisle, North Hampton and Springfield
Columbiana: Leetonia, Lisbon and Salem
Erie: Berlin Heights, Huron and Sandusky
Huron: Huron and Norwalk
Lorain: Elyria, Grafton, Lorain, North Ridgeville, Sheffield Village and South Amherst
Madison: London
Mahoning: Austintown, Boardman, Campbell, Lake Milton, Lowellville, Mineral Ridge, North Jackson, Struthers and Youngstown
Medina: Medina
Ottawa: Port Clinton
Portage: Ravenna
Richland: Madison Township and Mansfield
Stark: Alliance, Atwater, Greentown, Hartville, Lexington, Massillon, Perry Township, and North Canton
Summit: Barberton, Brecksville, Broadview Heights, Chapel Hill, Green, Clinton, Copley, Coventry Township, Akron, Doylestown, East Akron, Ellet, Elizabeth Park Valley, Goodyear Heights, Hudson, Kenmore, Lakemore, Middlebury, Mogadore, North Hill, Norton, Peninsula, Richfield, Silver Lake, Springfield Township, Tallmadge and Wadsworth
Trumbull: Fowler, Girard, Hartford, Kinsman, McDonald, Parkman, Southington, Vienna and Warren

As part of its notification process, Ohio Edison works with municipalities to inform them of trimming schedules. In addition, customers living in areas along company rights-of-way also are notified before vegetation management work is done.

The vegetation management work is conducted by certified forestry experts under the company's direction, including Asplundh Tree Expert Company, Davey Tree Expert Company, Nelson Tree Service Inc., Penn Line Service, Townsend Tree Service and Wright Tree Service.

In the air, helicopters equipped with aerial saws began trimming trees in March to maintain clearances along hard-to-access transmission and distribution corridors throughout Ohio Edison's service area. The aerial saw is typically deployed along transmission and distribution lines in areas that may be environmentally sensitive or inaccessible to bucket trucks and other vehicles. This method typically covers more area in a day than a ground crew might complete in a week. The saw also eliminates the risk of injury to workers using bucket trucks or climbing trees to cut limbs near high-voltage equipment.

Ohio Edison serves more than 1 million customers across 34 Ohio counties. Follow Ohio Edison on X, formerly known as Twitter, @OhioEdison and on Facebook at facebook.com/OhioEdison.

FirstEnergy is dedicated to integrity, safety, reliability and operational excellence. Its electric distribution companies form one of the nation's largest investor-owned electric systems, serving more than six million customers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, Maryland and New York. The company's transmission subsidiaries operate approximately 24,000 miles of transmission lines that connect the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions. Follow FirstEnergy online at firstenergycorp.com and on X @FirstEnergyCorp.

Editor's Note: Photos of workers trimming trees near FirstEnergy power lines are available for download on Flickr. B-roll of the aerial saw in action is available on YouTube.

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