FirstEnergy develops apps to expedite power restoration

FirstEnergy Corp. announced Tuesday that crews at its Pennsylvania utilities have begun using apps developed by the nuclear energy company to improve efficiency in their power restoration activities.

"The new storm restoration apps are part of our ongoing efforts to use advanced technology to enhance service reliability for customers and help reduce the duration of power outages following severe weather," Linda Moss, president of FirstEnergy's Pennsylvania operations, said. "Because the information will automatically be transferred from the field to our utility outage management systems, these new tools should help our dispatchers prioritize hazards and direct the appropriate crews to the damaged locations where we can get the most customers restored to service in the shortest amount of time."

When there is an outage caused by weather, the company says its first priority for workers is to address issues of safety and to evaluate and relay damage back to dispatching offices. With the applications, crews are able to work in a faster manner. Prior to these being introduced, the process had been reliant on physical means including hand-written notes, paper maps, and phone calls between field operatives and dispatchers.

Following the assessment period, the damage assessment application provides information on the necessary tools and equipment to be able to complete repairs.

FirstEnergy utilities in Pennsylvania are Penn Power, Metropolitan Edison, West Penn Power, and Pennsylvania Electric Co.