Optical Fiber Cable Expo 2024 News: FirstEnergy Receives Industry Award for Winter Storm Outage Recovery
Optical Fiber Cable Expo 2024 learned that FirstEnergy Corp. received an Emergency Recovery Award from the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) for restoring power to hundreds of thousands of customers in service areas such as Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland and New Jersey after Winter Storm Finn.
On January 9, several employees and personnel from FirstEnergy’s lighting companies, Ohio Edison, Pennsylvania Power Company, Penelec, West Penn Power, Met-Ed, Mon Power, Potomac Edison, and JCP&L service areas were hit by Winter Storm Finn. The storm brought strong winds, heavy rain, ice, and snow, causing extensive damage, including hundreds of broken utility poles and crossarms, downed power lines, and fallen trees and debris obstructing roads.
According to the company's emergency response plan, thousands of FirstEnergy line workers, disaster response personnel, forestry workers, contractors, and safety and support staff worked a combined total of over 422,000 hours during the two storms. They replaced 927 utility poles, 625 transformers, and approximately 72 miles of power lines.
Optical Fiber Cable Expo 2024 learned that on Jan. 11, FirstEnergy had restored power to 97% of its 373,000 customers who lost power due to Winter Storm Finn.
Wade Smith, President of FirstEnergy Utilities, stated, "I am proud to accept this award on behalf of the dedicated FirstEnergy employees and other personnel. The high winds and heavy precipitation posed significant challenges to our workers."
EEI presents awards to member companies twice a year to recognize teams actively involved in rescue operations during severe weather. Award recipients are selected by a panel of judges based on an international nomination process, and the awards are presented at EEI’s Summer Board and Chief Executive Officer meetings, held concurrently with EEI 2024.
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