Met-Ed Makes Significant Progress Overnight, Restoring an Additional 7,000 Customers Following Severe Winter Storm

READING, Pa., March 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Metropolitan Edison Company (Met-Ed) crews repaired two high-voltage power lines overnight, restoring power to more than 7,000 customers in the Bushkill and Shawnee areas of its eastern Pennsylvania service territory.

About 238,000 customers lost power following last week's storm.  Approximately 19,400 customers remain out of service, primarily in the Stroudsburg, Dingmans Ferry and Easton areas of Monroe, Pike and Northampton counties.  Crews continue to work towards completing restoration in the hardest-hit areas by late Wednesday night, though additional heavy, wet snow may slow those efforts.

"We are working in the snow today as long as it is safe to do so, and customers who have been without power the longest remain our top priority," said Ed Shuttleworth, regional president of Met-Ed.  "Once the storm has passed, we are committed to keeping all personnel in place and will work around the clock until every customer has been restored."

The Governor of Pennsylvania has declared a State of Emergency for several counties in the eastern portion of the state.  Additional crews arrived in the area yesterday, bringing the total personnel responding to both storms to nearly 900.  This robust response team will address any new outages based on a priority system that deals with the largest outages first, but remains focused on restoring customers who have been without power since last week.  

As part of its storm restoration process, Met-Ed has taken the following steps:

• Ramped up storm updates on social media and on the company website. Follow Met-Ed on Twitter @Met Ed and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MetEdElectric
• Aired radio ads telling customers how to prepare for storms
• Initiated update calls with officials
• Communicated with emergency management officials, state officials, regulators, and local officials about storm restoration efforts
• Staffed additional dispatchers and analysts at regional dispatch offices

Met-Ed also is offering free water and ice to customers remaining out of service.  Customers can pick up water and ice at the following locations: 

• Giant Food Store, 3560 Route 611, Stroudsburg, Pa.
• Giant Food Store, 837 Male Road, Windgap, Pa.
• Giant Food Store, 859 Nazareth Pike, Nazareth, Pa.
• Dingmans Volunteer Fire Department, 680 Log Tavern Road, Milford, Pa.
• Bushkill Volunteer Fire Department, 123 Evergreen Drive, Bushkill, Pa.

Met-Ed reminds customers to immediately report downed wires to their utility at 888-LIGHTSS (888-544-4877), or to their local police or fire department.  Customers should never go near a downed wire even if they think it is no longer carrying electricity.  Extra caution should be used in areas where downed lines are tangled in trees or other debris.

Met-Ed, a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE), serves approximately 560,000 customers in 15 Pennsylvania counties.  Follow Met-Ed on Twitter @Met Ed and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MetEdElectric.

FirstEnergy is 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 Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, Maryland and New York.  The company's transmission subsidiaries operate more than 24,000 miles of transmission lines that connect the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions.  Visit FirstEnergy online at www.firstenergycorp.com and follow on Twitter @FirstEnergyCorp.

Editor's Note: Photos of crews repairing storm damage are available for download on Flickr.

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SOURCE FirstEnergy Corp.