Some Could Be Without Power Until Mid-Week

CLARION CO., Pa. (EYT) – Central Electric Cooperative and First Energy Corp. have made significant progress in restoring electricity to the majority of the region, but some households may be without power until mid-week.

(Photos courtesy First Energy Corp.)

Service has been restored to more than 152,000 customers who lost power across FirstEnergy Corp.’s service territory following the winter ice and snow storm that hit the region last week.

Since the storm began, repairs have been made at hundreds of locations, and crews are working around the clock to restore service to approximately 85,000 customers who remain without power in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Maryland, and New Jersey.

Among the areas hardest hit were western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio where more than 145,000 customers of Ohio Edison, Penn Power, and West Penn Power lost power due to the storm. Approximately 470 additional line workers, damage assessors and hazard responders are being deployed to assist FirstEnergy utilities with restoration efforts in these areas.

Locally, 8,300 First Energy Corp. customers remain without power as of Monday morning, including 6,273 in Butler County, 725 in Armstrong County and 190 in Clarion County.

“Accumulating ice, wet snow and brisk winds caused heavy, ice-coated branches and trees to fall into power lines and other equipment,” said Samuel L. Belcher, senior vice president and president of FirstEnergy Utilities. “We will continue to work round-the-clock to safely make repairs and deploy resources as needed until all customers are restored.”

Additionally, Central Electric Cooperative crews continue to restore power to approximately 6,100 members without service as of Sunday evening.

That number has dropped from the 16,400 outages reported on Friday.

Central Electric has continued working throughout the night, with four additional crews from other cooperatives arriving Monday morning. There is no information on restoration times for specific accounts.

“We have made significant progress today and plan to do so tomorrow, but given the severity of the damage, total restoration of all members could be as late as Wednesday,” said Ken Maleski, CEC Manager of Communication & Public Relations on Sunday. “Our first priority remains the safety of our employees, members and the public, followed by timely restoration of all power.”

Warming stations are available throughout Armstrong, Butler, Clarion, and Venango counties.

The National Weather Service in Pittsburgh is forecasting rain and snow on Monday with a high near 36. Little or no snow accumulation expected.