June 7, 2018

FirstEnergy was honored by the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) for the second time in 2018 for its expertise in responding to emergencies. The company received EEI’s Emergency Assistance Award and the Emergency Recovery Award.

FirstEnergy earned the Emergency Assistance Award for helping New England utilities respond to Tropical Storm Phillippe in October 2017. The company sent more than 175 line workers, additional support personnel and nearly 100 vehicles after the storm caused wide-spread power outages in Maine, Vermont, Rhode Island and New York. FirstEnergy personnel were part of an effort that ultimately helped restore service to more than one million customers.

EEI presented the Emergency Recovery Award to FirstEnergy for restoring service to our customers following Winter Storm Riley and Winter Storm Quinn in March of this year. The back-to-back nor’easters knocked out power to more than 1.2 million customers in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Maryland. The company’s restoration effort included nearly 1 million man-hours of work that involved the replacement of more than 1,300 poles, 400 miles of wire and 420 transformers.

“These awards mark the 24^th and 25^th time FirstEnergy employees have been recognized for the considerable skills they use to benefit our own customers, and those of other utilities, during emergencies,” says Sam Belcher, senior vice president, FirstEnergy, and president, FirstEnergy Utilities. “The multiple nor’easters were especially challenging because the heavy snow caused extensive tree damage, which made accessing damage locations difficult.”

EEI presents emergency response awards twice annually to member companies. In January, FirstEnergy received the assistance award for responding to Hurricane Irma in Florida and South Carolina in September 2017 and the recovery award for restoring service to our customers in Pennsylvania and Ohio following tornados and severe thunderstorms in March 2017.

FEU employees gather for a photo along the New England coastline after providing mutual assistance to Maine Power following Tropical Storm Phillippe in October 2017.