Met-Ed Continues Tree Trimming Work to Enhance System Reliability
READING, Pa., April 11, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Metropolitan Edison Company (Met-Ed) continues to conduct tree trimming work in communities across its 15-county service area in Pennsylvania as part of its ongoing efforts to help enhance system reliability.
Since the beginning of the year, Met-Ed tree contractors have trimmed more than 600 circuit miles of electric lines as part of its approximately $14 million vegetation management spend for 2014, with an additional 2,300 miles expected to be completed by year end.
During the upcoming months, Met-Ed will be conducting tree trimming work in the following locations: Easton, Gettysburg, Hamburg, Lebanon, Reading, Stroudsburg, York and surrounding areas, and Upper Bucks County.
The tree trimming is done on a four-year cycle to ensure proper clearances are maintained around electric circuits and equipment and to help reduce tree-related outages, particularly during severe weather. Vegetation is inspected and trees are pruned in a manner that maintains the health of the tree while also maintaining safe and reliable electric service for customers. In some cases, trees that are considered to present a danger or are diseased may be removed.
As part of its notification process, Met-Ed works with municipalities to inform them of tree trimming schedules. In addition, customers living in areas along company rights-of-way also are notified prior to vegetation management work being done.
All tree trimming work is conducted to national standards by Met-Ed's certified forestry contractors, including: York Tree Service; DTE; Jaflo Inc.; Lewis Tree Service Inc.; Nelson Tree Service Inc.; Townsend Tree Service; and Treesmiths Inc.
For sixteen consecutive years, FirstEnergy (NYSE: FE), on behalf of its 10 utility companies, including Met-Ed, has been recognized as a Tree Line USA utility by the National Arbor Day Foundation in cooperation with the National Association of State Foresters. The award recognizes utility companies that promote the dual goals of dependable utility service and abundant, healthy trees along America's streets and highways. Award-winning companies demonstrate excellence in tree care, training and public education.
Met-Ed serves approximately 560,000 customers in 15 Pennsylvania counties. Follow Met-Ed on Twitter @Met Ed and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MetEdElectric.
FirstEnergy is a diversified energy company dedicated to safety, reliability and operational excellence. Its 10 electric distribution companies form one of the nation's largest investor-owned electric systems, serving customers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, Maryland, and New York. Follow FirstEnergy on Twitter @FirstEnergyCorp.
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economic or weather conditions affecting future sales and margins such as the polar vortex or other significant weather events; regulatory outcomes associated with storm restoration, including but not limited to, Hurricane Sandy, Hurricane Irene and the October snowstorm of 2011; changing energy, capacity and commodity market prices including, but not limited to, coal, natural gas and oil, and availability and their impact on retail margins; the continued ability of our regulated utilities to recover their costs; costs being higher than anticipated and the success of our policies to control costs and to mitigate low energy, capacity and market prices; other legislative and regulatory changes, and revised environmental requirements, including possible greenhouse gas emission, water discharge, water intake and coal combustion residual regulations, the potential impacts of Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR), and/or any laws, rules or regulations that ultimately replace CAIR, and the effects of the United States Environmental Protection Agency's Mercury and Air Toxics Standards rules including our estimated costs of compliance; the uncertainty of the timing and amounts of the capital expenditures that may arise in connection with any litigation, including New Source Review litigation or potential regulatory initiatives or rulemakings (including that such expenditures could result in our decision to deactivate or idle certain generating units); the uncertainties associated with the deactivation of certain older regulated and competitive fossil units including the impact on vendor commitments, and the timing thereof as they relate to, among other things, Reliability Must-Run arrangements and the reliability of the transmission grid; adverse regulatory or legal decisions and outcomes with respect to our nuclear operations (including, but not limited to the revocation or non-renewal of necessary licenses, approvals or operating permits by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission or as a result of the incident at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant); issues arising from the indications of cracking in the shield building and steam generator replacement at Davis-Besse; 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SOURCE FirstEnergy Corp.
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