Employees from Ohio Edison and The Illuminating Company (CEI) are busy working to complete smart grid upgrades across Greater Cleveland and Ashtabula County that will help prevent or minimize the length of service disruptions, particularly during severe weather.

The company determined the locations for these projects based on a review of historical outage patterns to identify the areas that could benefit most from smart grid technology.

“Every project is customized and designed to address the particular reliability needs of each community,” said Ed Shuttleworth, acting vice president, Utility Operations. “These upgrades will allow us to restore service to our customers faster following severe weather events – and pave the way for a more robust power system to support different types of energy sources in the years to come.”

Greater Cleveland

In the greater Cleveland area, employees are finalizing electrical equipment upgrades in 10 substations and modernizing power lines that serve customers from those facilities.

Thousands of homes and businesses in the area will benefit from the installation of 193 new automated reclosing devices in the substations and along power lines to help limit the frequency, duration and scope of service interruptions.

We’re also constructing additional power lines that tie together existing circuits to provide more flexibility in restoring service following outages. Nearly 230 capacitor banks were installed to regulate voltage.

Ashtabula County

Similar work being completed in Ashtabula County includes installation of new, automated equipment and technology in substations and along power lines serving
nearly 18,000 customers in parts of Ashtabula, Austinburg, Andover, Geneva and nearby areas. Upgrades began in 2020 under our Ohio Grid Mod I plan.

Employees are also finalizing electrical equipment upgrades in four substations in the greater Ashtabula area, modernizing power lines from those facilities and installing 52 new automated reclosing devices in the substations and along power lines. Additionally, 50 new capacitor banks were installed to regulate voltage.

Expansion Plan Pending

FirstEnergy’s Ohio utilities filed a plan with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) that would expand smart grid technology investments. The filing, known as Ohio Grid Mod II, proposes a four-year, $626-million investment plan that builds upon system upgrades completed since the PUCO approved the utilities’ Grid Mod I plan in 2019.

In addition to infrastructure upgrades, the proposed plan also includes several pilot programs that could yield enhanced customer benefits, such as providing residential and non-residential electric vehicle (EV) managed charging incentives to help support the adoption of EVs across our Ohio service territories. The Grid Mod II Plan is subject to PUCO approval.

Ohio Edison line workers make electrical equipment upgrades in the Medina area.