Penelec Conducts Annual Storm Restoration Drill to Help Employees Prepare for Real-Life Events

2021 tabletop drill goes virtual to protect participants from coronavirus

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Mar 15, 2021, 10:38 ET

ERIE, Pa., March 15, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Penelec, a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE), recently completed its yearly emergency preparation drill focused on testing its storm restoration process in the event severe weather causes widespread outages throughout its vast and largely rural service area.

Penelec conducted the drill virtually to align with its pandemic protocol, which includes not gathering for large in-person meetings to safeguard employees from the coronavirus. During the past year, Penelec employees have conducted storm calls and used electronic storm tools remotely to successfully manage restoration activities in the field.

The drill was designed to prepare employees assigned to storm restoration duties and review restoration processes and storm-management tools critical to quickly getting the lights back on. The drill scenario was based on an actual severe weather event, a powerful windstorm that swept through Pennsylvania last November causing tree-related damage to the system and interrupting electric service to 90,000 Penelec customers.

More than 30 Penelec employees from the Operations, Engineering, Safety, Logistics, Communications, External Affairs, Customer Support, Facilities, Corporate Support and Planning and Analysis groups participated remotely in the drill, which was observed by representatives from the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC).

"This is a great opportunity for us to practice and sharpen our skills in preparation for thunderstorms and severe weather headed into the spring and summer months," said Nick Austin, regional president of Penelec. "Periodic emergency drills are another way we invest in reliability for our customers, in addition to the tree trimming and the continuous work we do to harden our electric distribution infrastructure and enhance its resiliency."

Primary objectives of the Penelec drill included:

Providing a training opportunity to employees who are new to their storm roles
Providing a platform for feedback to refine and improve storm restoration processes
Identifying operational gaps in the storm restoration processes and devise solutions to correct them proactively

Just days before the November windstorm, Penelec unveiled its new Crew Manager network-based system that assigns crews to work locations, efficiently manages workflow, helps on-board contractors brought in to assist with repairs, and even tracks hospitality needs such as hotel rooms for out of town crews and support personnel. Penelec managers have worked during subsequent winter storms to familiarize employees with the new system and improve its functionality. They reported progress on this front during the storm drill.

For the benefit of the PUC observers and employees newer to the storm-restoration process, storm team leads kicked off the drill with a presentation to explain some of the specific storm-management tools used to mitigate public safety hazards, assess damage, set estimated times of restoration for electric service and safely manage line crew activities and workflow.

Most years, personnel from local Emergency Management Agencies observe storm drills in person, touring dispatch control centers and visiting stations in a mini-trade show setting to learn more about storm processes and tools. Due to the pandemic protocol, separate presentations will be delivered to them later this year.

As part of the training, Penelec used its Incident Command System (ICS). ICS is a nationally recognized and accepted emergency management process used by all levels of government – federal, state, and local – as well as by many non-governmental organizations and the private sector to coordinate the response to major storms or other natural disasters.

Penelec serves approximately 585,000 customers within 17,600 square miles of northern and central Pennsylvania. Follow Penelec on Twitter @Penelec and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/PenelecElectric.

FirstEnergy is dedicated to integrity, 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. The company's transmission subsidiaries operate approximately 24,500 miles of transmission lines that connect the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions. Visit FirstEnergy online at www.firstenergycorp.com and follow FirstEnergy on Twitter @FirstEnergyCorp.

SOURCE FirstEnergy Corp.