ALTOONA – More than 170 workers from Pennsylvania Electric Company (Penelec), other FirstEnergy utilities, and electrical contractors continue to work to restore service following a winter storm that brought freezing rain, ice, wind and snow to Penelec’s 31-county Pennsylvania service area this week. As of noon today, service has been restored to approximately 13,700 Penelec customers – approximately 85 percent of the customers impacted by the storm.
Restoration work is focused in the Lewistown area and Cambria County, with service expected to be restored to the remaining 2,300 customers without power by midnight tonight. Crews will remain in place throughout the holiday weekend to ensure timely restoration in the event additional inclement weather disrupts electrical service in the area.
Crews made up of supervisory personnel from Penelec and FirstEnergy’s Ohio Edison and Cleveland Electric Illuminating (CEI) utilities in Ohio are performing restoration activities. Local electrical contractors are also supporting the effort. Penelec line workers represented by Utility Workers Union of America (UWUA) Local 180 remain in a lockout after union members rejected the company’s Last, Best, and Final Contract Offer (LBFO) on Sunday, November 24.
As restoration and clean-up from the winter storm continue, customers are cautioned never to touch or drive over downed lines. Always assume downed wires are carrying electricity, and keep children and pets away from downed wires. To report an outage or a downed line, Penelec customers should call 1-888-LIGHTSS (1-888-544-4877).
For information on the company’s restoration efforts, current outages, FirstEnergy’s storm restoration process and tips for staying safe, go to www.firstenergycorp.com. Penelec will also provide updates via Twitter @Penelec.
Penelec serves approximately 590,000 customers in 31 Pennsylvania counties.
FirstEnergy is a diversified energy company 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. Its generation subsidiaries control more than 18,000 megawatts of capacity from a diversified mix of scrubbed coal, non-emitting nuclear, natural gas, hydro, pumped-storage hydro and other renewables. Follow FirstEnergy on Twitter @FirstEnergyCorp.