FirstEnergy shares stats of April 19 storm response effort
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May 7—MORGANTOWN — By all accounts, the business end of the storm that turned out the lights in Morgantown and the surrounding area on April 19 only lasted a few minutes.
But what was done in those few minutes required 475 workers, the replacement of 188 poles — including 135 in Monongalia County alone — and nearly eight miles of wire to undo.
Crews restored power to 63, 600 total customers over much of the following week — first in large swaths, then in smaller, more isolated pockets.
First Energy Local Engagement Specialist Krissy Michael provided the data to leadership with the city of Morgantown and the Monongalia County Commission. The commission shared it during Wednesday's regular meeting.
Power outages began at about 8:30 p.m. on the Saturday evening before Easter as 60-to 70-mph wind gusts caused extensive damage to power infrastructure. Snapped poles and broken cross arms resulted in downed lines.
"Our priority immediately following a storm is to clear hazards, such as downed power lines and trees blocking the roads. Hazard responders are dispatched to damaged locations, such as downed lines, to protect the public from these hazards until a line crew has arrived to make the area safe, " Michael explained.
Once immediate threats are identified and made safe, Michael said the pecking order for repairs starts with the substation facilities that supply power to the lines, followed by hospitals and other critical medical, communications and emergency response agencies /facilities. After that, crews work to restore power as quickly as possible to customers, starting with areas that will restore power to the largest number of homes and businesses.
"I just wanted to, again, thank Krissy and her staff for all they did to address that outage and make that public. It was a pretty big undertaking, " Commissioner Sean Sikora said.
A representative of FirstEnergy said the company does not publicly share the cost of restoration efforts, but noted historical outage data shows storm activity in the first four months of 2025 has been higher in the Mon Power service area than anything the company has seen in the last decade.
In other business from Wednesday's commission meeting, the body approved up to $2, 500 to match funds raised by Monongalia County students participating in the Future Problem Solving International Conference to be held next month in Bloomington, Indiana.
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