Met-Ed Winter Storm Update

February 7, 2014 - 1:00 p.m. Update

News provided by

Feb 07, 2014, 02:44 ET

READING, Pa., Feb. 7, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Metropolitan Edison (Met-Ed), a FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE) utility, has restored more than 80 percent of the approximately 137,000 customers who lost power in eastern Pennsylvania following a severe winter storm that produced up to half an inch of ice that downed trees and wires in the region.

"We appreciate our customers' patience and understanding as our dedicated crews continue around-the-clock restoration efforts following the damaging ice event," said Mike Doran, regional president of Met-Ed. "Our team, including Met-Ed crews, FirstEnergy personnel and electrical contractors, have made repairs at thousands of locations and will keep pushing until all the remaining customers have been restored."

As of 1:00 p.m. today, Met-Ed has restored more than 114,000 of the approximately 137,000 customers who lost power since the event began.

The estimated restoration times for the hardest hit areas include:

Lebanon area – 99 percent by midnight, tonight
Berks County – 99 percent by midnight., tonight
York area – 90 percent by midnight, tonight; 95 percent by midnight, Saturday

The large-scale restoration effort involves more than 2,000 Met-Ed, FirstEnergy and outside contractor personnel who have responded to more than 8,600 damage locations.

A staging site for outside crews has been established at the York County Fairgrounds.

For updated information on the company's current outages, FirstEnergy's storm restoration process and tips for staying safe, visit the 24/7 Power Center at www.firstenergycorp.com/outages.

Customers should immediately report downed wires by calling 1-888-LIGHTSS (1-888-544-4877) or by calling their local police or fire department. Customers should never go near a downed power line, even if they think it is no longer carrying electricity.

FirstEnergy storm restoration photos are available for download on Flickr.

Met-Ed serves approximately 550,000 customers in 15 Pennsylvania counties. Visit FirstEnergy online at www.firstenergycorp.com, and follow Met-Ed on Twitter @Met_Ed.

SOURCE FirstEnergy Corp.