FirstEnergy received an Emergency Recovery Award from the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) in recognition of our outstanding response in restoring power to more than 569,000 customers in portions of our Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia service areas following severe weather that produced heavy rainfall and high winds on March 25. This is the 18^th consecutive year FirstEnergy has been recognized by EEI for our storm response efforts.

“I am proud to accept this award on behalf of the dedicated FirstEnergy employees and others who worked safely around the clock to get the lights back on for our customers,” said Ed Shuttleworth, acting vice president, Utility Operations. “For days, long-lasting high winds continued to cause challenges as crews navigated impassable roads and other hazardous conditions to be there for our customers when they needed them most.”

Ohio Edison, the Illuminating Company, West Penn Power, Met-Ed, Penelec, Potomac Edison and Mon Power bore the brunt of a windstorm on March 25, with gusts recording as high as 100 miles per hour in some areas. This was particularly devastating because the ground was already saturated from several days of rain in the region leading up to the windstorm. The combined elements caused significant damage to the electric system, largely due to the hundreds of downed trees and limb damage.

Hundreds of FirstEnergy line workers, forestry crews, contractors and support personnel safely and collectively worked more than 230,000 man-hours, replacing 809 poles, 489 transformers and about 72 miles of wire.

EEI presents awards twice annually to member companies for extraordinary power restoration efforts or assistance to other electric companies after service disruptions caused by weather conditions and other natural events. The winners were chosen by a panel of judges following an international nomination process, and the awards were presented during EEI’s summer Board of Directors and CEO meeting held in conjunction with EEI 2023.

FirstEnergy was also recognized in January of 2023 for summer storm restoration efforts that took place in June 2022.