The exercise familiarizes FirstEnergy employees with storm surge roles and operations
Reading, Pennsylvania., May 20, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — FirstEnergy Pennsylvania Electric Company (In the Palestinian Authority), a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp. (listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol NYSE: FE), which operates in the Eastern Province Pennsylvania Like Met-Ed, it recently completed an annual emergency preparation exercise focused on testing its storm recovery process in the event severe weather causes power outages throughout its vast, forested service area.
Individuals participated in Storm drills remotely and in person at Met-Ed’s reading Headquarters – A hybrid approach similar to how staff conduct real-world restoration activities using E-Storm tools to manage work in the field. The training is designed to prepare employees for storm restoration duties and review restoration processes and storm management tools important to get lights back on safely and quickly.
Scott Wymanpresident of FirstEnergy operations in Pennsylvania: “Storm drills provide our employees with a controlled, error-free forum to practice and hone their skills in preparation for severe weather, including summer thunderstorms with strong wind gusts. Regular emergency drills are another way we improve electrical service for our customers, in addition to the tree trimming and projects we undertake “To strengthen our electrical infrastructure and enhance its resilience.”
The primary scenario for the exercise focused on severe weather with organized lines of powerful June thunderstorms capable of producing wind gusts in excess of 70 mph sweeping across the country. Pennsylvania And New Jersey. The storms toppled trees, caused widespread damage to poles and wires and disrupted electrical service to more than 400,000 of Met-Ed’s 592,000 customers.
Further complicating the weather drill was a second hypothetical issue that involved severe damage to two electrical substations, communications lines and equipment. Training participants had to quickly solve the problem of safely and efficiently restoring power to customers in the aftermath of a storm, knowing that substations would not be available.
As part of the training, Met-Ed activated its Incident Command System (ICS). ICS is a nationally recognized and accepted emergency management process used by all levels of government—federal, state, and local—as well as by many nongovernmental organizations and the private sector to coordinate response to major storms or other natural disasters.
Following a major weather event, Met-Ed crews follow a proven restoration process and typically handle service outages that restore the largest number of customers before moving on to more isolated issues. They generally give priority to hospitals, other critical medical facilities, communications facilities, and emergency response agencies. Crews then work to restore power as quickly as possible to remaining customers.
For more information about FirstEnergy’s storm recovery operation and tips for staying safe, visit our 24/7 Energy Center at firstenergycorp.com/outages.
Met-Ed serves approximately 592,000 customers within a 3,300 square mile area of the East and Southeast Pennsylvania. Follow Met-Ed on X, formerly known as Twitter, @dead ed And on Facebook at facebook.com/MetEdElectric.
FirstEnergy is committed to integrity, safety, reliability and operational excellence. Its electricity distribution companies constitute one of the largest investor-owned electric systems in the country, serving customers in… Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, Maryland And New York. The company’s carriers operate approximately 24,000 miles of transportation lines connecting the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions. Visit FirstEnergy online at firstenergycorp.com And follow FirstEnergy on X @FirstEnergyCorp.
Editor’s note: A photo of FirstEnergy employees conducting storm drills is available for download at Flickr.
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Source: First Energy Company
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