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Met-Ed Continues Restoration Efforts Following Hurricane Sandy

^{Published on 2012-11-01 13:01:47 - Market Wire}
 

Met-Ed Continues Restoration Efforts Following Hurricane Sandy -- READING, Pa., Nov. 1, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

READING, Pa., Nov. 1, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Nearly 2,000 workers from Metropolitan Edison Company (Met-Ed), other FirstEnergy (NYSE: [ FE ]) utilities, and contractors continue to work around the clock to restore service following Hurricane Sandy, which blasted through the company's 15-county Pennsylvania service area earlier this week.  As of 3 p.m. today, Met-Ed has restored service to approximately 170,000 customers – nearly two-thirds of the customers impacted by the hurricane – with about 90,000 still without power.

The counties in Met-Ed service area most affected by the hurricane include Berks, Northampton, Monroe, Pike and Lehigh.  Downed trees and branches and impassable roads continue to hamper restoration efforts. 

As restoration efforts continue in the hardest-hit areas of the Met-Ed territory, a staging site for crews was established in the Nazareth area to support restoration work in the Easton, Stroudsburg, and Pocono areas.  A staging site is also operating in Oley to support restoration efforts in the Reading/Berks area. 

"We are confident that 95 percent of our customers will be restored by Saturday, with the remainder restored early next week," said Mike Doran, Met-Ed regional president.  "All of our line, support and forestry personnel are steadily working to restore service.  In addition, we continue to utilize crews from our FirstEnergy sister companies and contractors from as far away as Florida, North Carolina and Michigan to assist our restoration efforts.  To support our restoration efforts, we have nearly tripled the normal Met-Ed workforce.

"Safety is paramount in our efforts, and we remind our customers to never go near a downed power line or remove trees, limbs or branches from power lines.  Additionally, I want to thank our customers for their patience during this historic storm and restoration.  We understand the inconvenience a power outage can cause," Doran adds.

Information about Met-Ed's restoration efforts is being shared with local officials and customers as soon as it is available.

For updated information on the company's restoration efforts, current outages, FirstEnergy's storm restoration process and tips for staying safe, go to [ www.firstenergycorp.com. ]   Met-Ed will also provide updates via Twitter [ @Met_Ed ].

FirstEnergy customer call centers are fully staffed.  To report an outage or a downed line, Met-Ed customers should call 1-888-LIGHTSS (1-888-544-4877). 

Met-Ed serves approximately 550,000 customers in 15 Pennsylvania counties.

FirstEnergy (NYSE: [ FE ]) is a diversified energy company 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 Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and West Virginia.  Its generation subsidiaries control more than 20,000 megawatts of capacity from a diversified mix of scrubbed coal, non-emitting nuclear, natural gas, hydro, pumped-storage hydro and other renewables.  Follow FirstEnergy on Twitter @FirstEnergyCorp.

SOURCE FirstEnergy Corp.