February 9, 2025

FirstEnergy has received an Emergency Recovery Award from the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) in recognition of our outstanding response in restoring power to hundreds of thousands of customers in northeast Ohio following a historic weather event in August 2024 that brought severe thunderstorms, wind and tornadoes.

We also received the Emergency Assistance Award from EEI for our support last fall with the restoration efforts following Hurricanes Helene and Milton. This is the 20^th consecutive year FirstEnergy has been recognized by EEI for our storm response efforts.

“I am proud of the dedicated employees who worked tirelessly in the wake of an extreme weather event in northeast Ohio as well as our crews who traveled south to assist with hurricane restoration efforts,” said Wade Smith, President, FirstEnergy Utilities. “These were incredibly difficult, challenging working conditions, and our employees performed safely in restoring power to hundreds of thousands of impacted customers.”

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 winter Board of Directors and CEO meeting.

Ohio storm and beyond

On Aug. 6, our company experienced the most impactful storm to hit our northeast Ohio service territory since 1993. The area was hit with heavy rain and thunderstorms with wind gusts over 80 miles per hour, five tornadoes with winds up to 110 miles per hour, and a wide area of damaging straight-line winds of 70-90 miles per hour, known as a macroburst, that struck roughly 225 square miles in Cuyahoga, Lake and Geauga counties.

More than 627,700 customers across our footprint in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland and New Jersey lost power due to the storms, and 497,500 of those were in Ohio. The damage was widespread, consisting of hundreds of broken poles and crossarms, downed power lines and fallen trees and debris blocking road access.

By Aug. 11, we had restored power to 94% of the customers who had lost power. Following the company’s Emergency Response Plan, thousands of our line workers, hazard responders, forestry crews, contractors and safety and support personnel collectively worked more than 384,000 man-hours in the wake of the storm, replacing nearly 500 poles, 231 transformers and 75 miles of wire.

Hurricane help

In September and October, we also sent 645 line workers and 300 trucks to assist other electric companies with restoration efforts in the Carolinas, Florida, Georgia and Virginia following Hurricanes Helene and Milton. FirstEnergy crews logged more than 150,000 man-hours and navigated hazardous conditions in unfamiliar areas as they worked to help safely restore service in the wake of the devastating storms.

“EEI commends FirstEnergy for its efforts to respond safely and efficiently to the aftermath of the severe weather event in Ohio. We also applaud FirstEnergy for aiding neighboring electric companies in their times of need. FirstEnergy and its storm response team are extremely deserving of these well-earned emergency recovery and assistance awards,” said EEI Interim President and CEO Pat Vincent-Collawn.