Pennsylvania subsidiaries of FirstEnergy Corp. have received authorization from the state to carry out planned infrastructure improvements, FirstEnergy said this week.
Approximately $245 million in capital investments and projects will take place over a five-year period. Projects will include installing new fuses, replacing underground cables, replacing aging circuit breakers and transformers in substations, sectionalizing devices on overhead wires and replacing some wooden poles.
FirstEnergy’s Pennsylvania subsidiaries include Pennsylvania Power Company, West Penn Power Company, Metropolitan Edison Company and Pennsylvania Electric Company.
“The improvement plans for each utility are designed to complement the work we already do to reduce the number and duration of outages our customers experience,” Linda Moss, FirstEnergy’s president of operations in Pennsylvania, said. “The plans will help us accelerate the vital work that targets enhancing service reliability.”
FirstEnergy said projects making up $56 million of total investments are expected to be completed by the end of this year.
The company said costs associated with this work are anticipated to be recovered through Distribution System Improvement Changes, which would take effect on July 1 of this year, pending approval from the state’s Public Utility Commission.
