FirstEnergy Continues Tree Trimming Program in Met-Ed Area

READING, Pa., Sept. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- FirstEnergy Corp. FE continues to conduct tree trimming work in communities across the Metropolitan Edison Company (Met-Ed) service area in Pennsylvania to maintain proper clearances around electrical equipment and help protect against tree-related outages as part of its ongoing efforts to help enhance service reliability. 

Since the beginning of the year, contractors have trimmed trees along more than 1,650 miles of distribution and transmission lines in the Met-Ed service area as part of the more than $14.7 million vegetation management program for 2016, with an additional 950 miles expected to be completed by year-end. 

"Tree trimming is one of the most important things we do every year to help maintain our electric system," said Ed Shuttleworth, regional president, Met-Ed.  "Our goal is to reduce the number and duration of outages and enhance service reliability even more by protecting our wires and other infrastructure from tree-related damage."

During the upcoming months, Met-Ed will be conducting tree trimming work in the following locations:  Easton, Gettysburg, Hamburg, Hanover, Lebanon, Reading, Stroudsburg, York and surrounding areas, and Upper Bucks County.

As part of its notification process, Met-Ed works with municipalities to inform them of tree trimming schedules.  In addition, customers living in areas along company rights-of-way are notified prior to vegetation management work being done. 

The vegetation management work is conducted by certified forestry experts under the company's direction, including Aerial Solutions, Asplundh Tree Expert Company, Davey Tree Expert Company, Lewis Tree Service, Nelson Tree Service Inc., Rotor Blade, Treesmiths and York Tree Service Inc.

The program includes inspecting vegetation near the lines to ensure trees are pruned in a manner that helps preserve the health of the tree, while also maintaining safety near electric facilities.  Trees that present a danger or are diseased also may be removed. 

To learn more about FirstEnergy's tree trimming and vegetation management programs go to www.firstenergycorp.com/trees

Met-Ed serves approximately 560,000 customers in 15 Pennsylvania counties.  Follow Met-Ed on Twitter @Met Ed and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MetEdElectric.

FirstEnergy is dedicated to 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 more than 24,000 miles of transmission lines that connect the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions.  Follow FirstEnergy on Twitter @FirstEnergyCorp or online at www.firstenergycorp.com. 

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SOURCE FirstEnergy Corp.