FAIRMONT, W. Va., Sept. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Mon Power, a
subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE), is launching a
sustainability initiative to recycle and repurpose utility poles in
West Virginia.
At nine of its service centers, Mon Power will store used
utility poles that will be redistributed to other parties – such as
farmers, mills, charitable organizations and even employees – for
direct reuse. Alternative uses for poles typically include fencing,
parking bollards, guide rail posts, landscaping or treated wood
construction.
"We are committed to reducing waste and improving our recycling
efforts, and this is an exciting opportunity for us to adopt a more
environmentally friendly practice and find new uses for our
secondhand utility poles in West
Virginia," said Jim Myers,
president of FirstEnergy's West
Virginia operations.
If a utility pole is damaged and no longer fit for use, Mon
Power will remove any utility hardware from the pole and store it
at one of its participating service centers. Each pole, which
weighs roughly 50 pounds per cubic foot, must be at least eight
feet in length to be part of the reuse program.
When Mon Power has collected a full load of approximately 25
poles, the company will work with Blackwood Solutions, a
transportation and materials management firm, to pick them up and
distribute them for reuse. The poles will be delivered at no cost
to interested parties who are willing to accept a full load, can be
accessed by tractor trailer and are located within a certain
distance from the collection sites.
In the past, Mon Power's discarded poles had been cut into
smaller pieces and stored on site until a waste management company
took them to a landfill for proper disposal. While it could take up
to a year for Mon Power to accumulate a full load of poles to be
recycled, the program is expected to reduce Mon Power's waste
stream significantly over time, as most poles weigh between 300 and
4,100 pounds.
The company will review the program over the next 12 months and
consider expanding it to additional locations in its service
territory. The pole recycling program was first piloted last year
at Ohio Edison, a FirstEnergy electric subsidiary based in
Ohio.
To find out more about participating in the pole recycling
program or to contact Blackwood Solutions, please visit
www.bwoodsolutions.com.
Mon Power serves about 395,000 customers in 34 West Virginia counties. Follow Mon Power at
www.mon-power.com, on Twitter @MonPowerWV, and on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/MonPowerWV.
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 24,000 miles of
transmission lines that connect the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic
regions. Follow FirstEnergy online at www.firstenergycorp.com and
on Twitter @FirstEnergyCorp.
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SOURCE FirstEnergy Corp.