More Than 6,000 Workers Engaged in Restoring Power Around the Clock for Northeast Ohio Customers

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Aug 09, 2024, 10:54 ET

Free water and ice available for customers who remain without power

AKRON, Ohio, Aug. 9, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Power is actively being restored around the clock to the approximately 194,500 FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) customers in Northeast Ohio who remain without service following the severe thunderstorms, wind and tornados that swept through the area on Tuesday. While restoration efforts are expected to continue into next week, many customers will have power restored well before that time.

Photos and video footage of damage and FirstEnergy crews working across Northeast Ohio can be viewed or downloaded here.

Key statistics from the event:

More than 627,700 customers across FirstEnergy's footprint in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland and New Jersey lost power due to the storm.
Four confirmed tornados with winds between 100-110 mph struck in the Illuminating Company and Ohio Edison service areas. In addition, a wide area of damaging straight-line winds of 70-90 mph, known as a macroburst, struck roughly 225 square miles in Cuyahoga, Lake and Geauga counties.
More than 6,000 lineworkers, hazard responders, damage assessors, forestry crews and other support personnel are assisting the restoration effort. FirstEnergy will continue to move other employees from across the company into Northeast Ohio as the threat from Tropical Storm Debby passes.
To date, more than 350 broken poles have been identified in Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake and Lorain counties. Crews are actively replacing these poles, along with hanging hundreds of spans of wire, as part of the restoration effort.
Five staging sites have been set up across the greater Cleveland area to handle the influx of outside workers and help make the restoration process more efficient.
More than a dozen sites have been set up to provide free water and ice to customers who remain without power. The full list of sites is available online: Water and Ice Locations (firstenergycorp.com).

Current outage updates as of 9:30 a.m. today include:

The Illuminating Company: Approximately 322,000 Illuminating Company customers lost power from the storm, and 192,300 remain without power. Power will be restored to the vast majority of customers by 11:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 14.
Ohio Edison: Power has been restored to 98% of the approximately 118,100 Ohio Edison customers who lost power from the storm. The remaining 2,200 customers without power are expected to have service restored by 11 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 10.

As additional information about necessary repairs is understood, more detailed ETRs will be provided. Customers can view their current individual ETR for their particular outage by logging into their account at firstenergycorp.com, texting STAT to 544487, or viewing the outage map at firstenergycorp.com/outages.

FirstEnergy's Restoration Process:
FirstEnergy follows a formal restoration process after severe weather, focusing on repairs that will address the largest number of customers before moving on to more isolated issues. The restoration effort typically begins with transmission and substation facilities and then prioritizes critical facilities like hospitals, communications and emergency response agencies.

Additionally, hundreds of isolated issues affect individual or small numbers of customers. These are the most time-consuming repairs because they require our crews to go to each individual location to make the repairs. Many of the isolated issues include repairs to "service drops," which are wires attached to each home to deliver electricity from the neighborhood power line. These wires are often damaged by fallen trees and large branches.

For updated information on the company's current outages, storm restoration process and tips for staying safe, visit FirstEnergy's 24/7 Power Center at firstenergycorp.com/outages. To learn more about navigating the recently updated map, please visit bit.ly/FEoutagemapupdates.

Generator Safety Reminder:
To ensure the safety of the home's occupants as well as that of electric company employees who may be working on power lines in the area, the proper generator should be selected and installed by a qualified electrician.

When operating a generator, the power coming into the home should always be disconnected. Otherwise, power from the generator could be sent back onto the power lines, creating a hazardous situation for company workers. Locate the generator outside of your home and far away from windows, doors and vents. Never locate a generator inside your home.

View additional generator safety information.

FirstEnergy is dedicated to integrity, safety, reliability and operational excellence. Its 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. The company's transmission subsidiaries operate approximately 24,000 miles of transmission lines that connect the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions. Visit FirstEnergy online at firstenergycorp.com and follow FirstEnergy and its operating companies on X, formerly known as Twitter, @FirstEnergyCorp, @IlluminatingCo, @OhioEdison.