According to Penelec Area Manager John Shimko, the outage began around 3:00 a.m. when a bird contacted a power line near the former True Value hardware store on Chester St. Penelec crews were called out and discovered a broken insulator that resulted from the electrical fault created by the animal contact. Crews were able to restore all but 3 customers at 4:53 a.m. Equipment repairs were completed and the remaining three customers were restored at 6:15 a.m.
Penelec reminds customers to never approach downed wires as they may be energized. Power outages can be reported by calling 1-888-LIGHTSS or 1-888-544-4877.