For the 19^th consecutive year, we’ve received an Emergency Recovery Award from the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) in recognition of our storm response efforts.

The award commends employees’ outstanding response in restoring power to hundreds of thousands of customers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland and New Jersey following Winter Storms Finn and Gerri in January 2024.

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.

“I am proud to accept this award on behalf of the dedicated FirstEnergy employees and others who worked safely and tirelessly around the clock during two consecutive severe winter weather events,” said Wade Smith, President, FirstEnergy Utilities. “The high winds and heavy precipitation created immense challenges for our crews as they navigated dangerous conditions to restore service to our customers in the wake of these storms.”

On Jan. 9, crews from The Illuminating Company (CEI), Ohio Edison, Penn Power, Penelec, West Penn Power, Met-Ed, Mon Power, Potomac Edison and JCP&L service areas bore the brunt of Winter Storm Finn, which brought strong winds, heavy rain, ice and snow. The tree- and flood-related damage was widespread, consisting of hundreds of broken poles and crossarms, downed power lines, and fallen trees and debris blocking road access.

By Jan. 11, employees had restored power to 97% of the 373,000 customers who had lost power due to Winter Storm Finn. That restoration effort was quickly followed by response to Winter Storm Gerri, which began impacting FirstEnergy’s service territory on Jan. 12 with severe winds, rain and heavy, wet snow, affecting 192,000 customers.

Following the company’s Emergency Response Plan, thousands of FirstEnergy line workers, hazard responders, forestry crews, contractors and safety and support personnel collectively worked more than 422,000 man-hours during the two storms, replacing 927 poles, 625 transformers and about 72 miles of wire.