Many crews expected to transition from
Helene aid in Carolinas and Georgia
AKRON,
Ohio, Oct. 9, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- As Hurricane
Milton bears down on the west coast of Florida, FirstEnergy Corp.
(NYSE: FE) electric companies are sending more than 580 line
workers and support personnel to assist Florida Power & Light and Duke Energy with
anticipated power restoration efforts following the storm. Many of
the crews previously involved in restoring power after Hurricane
Helene in the Carolinas and Georgia will be transitioning to Florida in
the upcoming days. A new wave of support personnel also began
departing from FirstEnergy's service area this morning, and all are
anticipated to arrive in Florida
on Friday after the storm passes.
Hurricane Milton is expected to make landfall on Florida's Gulf
Coast late Wednesday night, with devastating impacts from storm
surge, flooding rain, tornadoes and damaging winds forecast across
many parts of west-central Florida.
View or download a video of a
FirstEnergy line worker explaining mutual aid work with footage
from their efforts to restore power following Hurricane
Helene.
FirstEnergy electric companies in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New
Jersey, Maryland and
West Virginia are part of the
mutual assistance effort, which includes crews from Ohio Edison,
Toledo Edison and The Illuminating Company in Ohio; Penn Power, Penelec, West Penn Power and
Met-Ed in Pennsylvania; Mon Power
in West Virginia; Potomac Edison
in West Virginia and Maryland; and Jersey Central Power & Light
(JCP&L) in New Jersey.
John Huber, Director of
Emergency Preparedness at FirstEnergy: "FirstEnergy
employees are answering the call to help rebuild communities
expected to be impacted by Hurricane Milton. These dedicated crews
leave their own families for weeks at a time to support large-scale
power restoration efforts, where their expertise shines in aiding
communities to rebuild their power grids after severe weather
events. Although Hurricane Milton is not projected to impact any
FirstEnergy service territories, we have thoroughly evaluated the
conditions and have the necessary personnel in place to support
consistent operations for our local customers."
Nearly 430 FirstEnergy line workers and support personnel have
collectively supported Duke Carolinas in North and South Carolina, Georgia Power in Georgia and Appalachian Power and American
Electric Power in Virginia in the
aftermath of Hurricane Helene. Helene made landfall on Sept. 25 with 140 mph winds and a tremendous
storm surge, making it the strongest hurricane on record to hit the
Big Bend region of Florida. As it moved inland, the Category 4
storm knocked out power to more than 6 million customers and
decimated many communities in Georgia and the Carolinas with up to 30 inches
of rain and historic flooding.
Nearly 100 of the line workers and personnel who assisted in the
Hurricane Helene effort will relocate to Florida, while the others
will be released to return home in the next few days.
FirstEnergy is a member of multiple electric utility
mutual-assistance groups that work cooperatively to restore service
to customers when a natural disaster causes large-scale power
outages. Mutual assistance allows utilities to pool their resources
to help restore power to customers faster. FirstEnergy and its
employees have been honored more than a dozen times by the Edison
Electric Institute (EEI) with its "Emergency Assistance Award" for
the mutual assistance the company has provided during winter and
summer storms.
FirstEnergy is dedicated to integrity, safety, reliability and
operational excellence. Its 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 approximately 24,000 miles of
transmission lines that connect the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic
regions. Follow FirstEnergy online at firstenergycorp.com.
Follow FirstEnergy on X: @FirstEnergyCorp.
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SOURCE FirstEnergy Corp.