Mon Power Restores Service to Nearly 85 Percent of Customers
Affected by Hurricane Sandy
FAIRMONT, W.V., Nov. 5, 2012
/PRNewswire/ -- Mon Power has restored service to more than
169,000 customers of the approximately 201,000 customers who lost
power as a result of Hurricane Sandy.
More than 2,700 Mon Power employees, contractors and outside
utility crew members – including 300 linemen from American Electric
Power who arrived today – are working to restore power to 32,000
customers who remain without service.
"We continue to bring in personnel and resources and deploy them
to the harder hit areas," said Jim
Haney, FirstEnergy utility executive. "We appreciate
the support from American Electric Power, National Guard,
Department of Highways and other organizations in this massive
restoration effort."
Approximately 700 miles of the more than 900 miles of
transmission lines damaged by the storm have been restored.
However, crews remain challenged by the mountainous terrain
and areas still covered in deep snow.
The majority of affected Mon Power customers are expected to be
restored by Friday night. Customers located in remote parts
of Barbour, Braxton, Clay, Nicholas, Preston, Randolph, Tucker and
Webster counties may not be fully restored until the end of the
weekend.
"We greatly appreciate our customers' patience as crews continue
repairing damage. The remaining work is especially labor
intensive," added Haney.
A complete list of estimated restoration times is available on
the web at www.firstenergycorp.com/storminfo.
As snow and debris from the storm is cleared, customers are
cautioned never to touch or drive over downed lines.
Customers should always assume downed wires are carrying
electricity and are reminded to keep their children and pets away
from them. Downed wires should be reported immediately to Mon
Power at 1-888-LIGHTSS (1-888-544-4877), or by calling the local
police or fire department. Customers should never try to
remove trees or limbs from power lines because they could conduct
electricity; instead, wait for emergency services or utility crews
to arrive.
Customers can view timely, accurate outage information through
FirstEnergy's "24/7 Power Center" maps, accessible on desktops,
smartphones and mobile devices at
www.firstenergycorp.com/outages or via Twitter
@MonPowerWV.
Mon Power serves nearly 390,000 customers in West Virginia.
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 Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New
Jersey, New York and West
Virginia. Its generation subsidiaries control more than
20,000 megawatts of capacity from a diversified mix of scrubbed
coal, non-emitting nuclear, natural gas, hydro, pumped-storage
hydro and other renewables. Follow FirstEnergy on Twitter
@FirstEnergyCorp.
SOURCE FirstEnergy Corp.