N@N

Met-Ed Restoration Efforts Continue in Full Force

^{Published on 2012-11-02 13:16:30 - Market Wire}
 

Met-Ed Restoration Efforts Continue in Full Force -- READING, Pa., Nov. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

READING, Pa., Nov. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- More than 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 tore 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 220,000 customers – more than 80 percent of the customers impacted by the hurricane – with about 50,000 still without power.

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

Met-Ed is using three staging sites to help coordinate and speed its restoration efforts.  Those in the Nazareth area and at Nockamixon State Park are supporting restoration work in Bucks, Northampton, Monroe and Pike counties.  A third staging site in Oley is supporting restoration efforts in the Reading/Berks area. 

"We continue to make progress on our restoration plans and believe 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 our efforts and personnel are dedicated to safely working to restore service as quickly as possible.  I understand the inconvenience and frustration a power outage can cause – I want to thank our customers for their patience during this historic storm and restoration.

"Safety continues to be our primary concern – for our customers, the general public and our employees.  I'd like to thank all the crews engaged in restoration efforts for working in a safe, diligent manner to restore our customers to service.  And, I'd like to remind customers to never go near a downed power line or remove trees, limbs or branches from power lines," 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.

[ www.firstenergycorp.com ]

 (110212)

SOURCE FirstEnergy Corp.