Company will trim along nearly 5,200 miles
of power lines in West Virginia
this year
FAIRMONT, W.Va., May 3, 2022
/PRNewswire/ -- Mon Power, a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:
FE), has begun its 2022 tree-trimming program and will clear
vegetation around nearly 5,200 miles of power lines as part of its
ongoing efforts to enhance service reliability for West Virginia customers.
Maintaining proper clearances and removing dead or diseased
trees around electrical equipment can help reduce the frequency and
duration of power outages, especially those associated with severe
weather. Clearing incompatible vegetation under power lines also
results in easier access for company personnel to inspect and
maintain lines and make repairs faster if an outage occurs.
Since the launch of the tree-trimming program in April 2014, Mon Power has cleared vegetation
along more than 31,000 miles of power lines and has trimmed more
than 3.7 million trees across its 34-county service territory. As a
result of these efforts, total customer outage minutes have dropped
by more than 40% since the first full year of the program in 2015,
including during major storm events.
"Vegetation management is crucial to our reliability efforts and
one of the most effective ways we can reduce the impact of
tree-related service interruptions for our customers," said
Jim Myers, president of West Virginia operations for FirstEnergy.
As part of Mon Power's $58 million
program, trees are inspected and pruned in a manner that helps
preserve the health of the tree while maintaining safety near
electric facilities. In some cases, trees that are diseased or pose
a threat to power lines or equipment may be removed. Similar work
will be conducted along 363 miles of the company's high-voltage
transmission power lines as part of a $10.5
million program.
Mon Power's program also includes the removal of deteriorated
ash trees damaged by the Emerald Ash Borer along larger
distribution lines and lines near substations. Since the start of
the program, Mon Power has removed more than 110,000 damaged ash
trees identified as potential hazards.
Mon Power will be conducting tree-trimming work in the following
counties and communities this year:
- Braxton: Heaters, Servia, Sutton
- Brooke: Beech
Bottom, Bethany, Weirton, Wellsburg, Windsor
Heights
- Calhoun: Grantsville
- Clay: Clay,
Widen
- Greenbrier: Fairlea, Lewisburg, Ronceverte, White
Sulphur Springs
- Hancock: Chester,
New Cumberland
- Harrison: Bridgeport, Lost Creek
- Marion: Barrackville, Fairview, Farmington, Idamay, Mannington
- Monongalia: Brookhaven, Dellslow, Granville, Morgantown, Osage, Wadestown, Wana
- Monroe: Union
- Nicholas: Birch River, Fenwick, Leivasy, Lockwood, Nettie, Richwood
- Pendleton: Franklin, Sugar Grove, Upper
Tract
- Pocahontas: Slaty Fork,
Snowshoe
- Preston: Albright,
Bruceton Mills, Fellowsville, Terra
Alta
- Randolph: Elkins,
Gilman, Huttonsville, Kerens, Montrose
- Ritchie: Smithville
- Summers: Hinton, Lowell, Pence Springs
- Taylor: Blueville,
Grafton, Knottsville, Pruntytown
- Tucker: Davis,
Parsons, St. George
- Upshur: Buckhannon
- Webster: Webster
Springs
- Wetzel: Jacksonburg, New Martinsville, Pine Grove, Porters Falls, Reader
- Wood: Deerwalk, Larkmead, Lubeck, Parkersburg, Washington, Waverly, Williamstown
The vegetation management work is conducted by certified
forestry experts under the company's direction, including Asplundh
Tree Expert, GF Tree Service, Hazlett Tree Service, Penn Line, The
Energy Group, Townsend and UAL.
Mon Power works with municipalities to inform them of
tree-trimming schedules, and customers living in areas along
company rights-of-way are notified prior to vegetation management
work being done.
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.
Editor's Note: Photos of utility personnel trimming
trees near FirstEnergy power lines are available for download
on Flickr. A video explaining FirstEnergy's vegetation
management techniques can also be found on YouTube.
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SOURCE FirstEnergy Corp.