(WKBN) – Power outages are never good news, especially not with freezing temperatures outside.
When it comes to extreme cold, FirstEnergy spokesperson Hannah Catlet says preparation is key.
“It’s an all-hands-on-deck situation, especially when we have cold weather like this,” she said. “We took steps last week, knowing that this cold was coming, to look at our staffing levels as well as prep the guys for how they are going to operate in cold weather.”
To safely work through the cold, workers layer up while still wearing the proper gear to work with electricity, and they relieve each other to warm up in the trucks.
“Unfortunately, that can delay restoration when the guys have to take those safety precautions, but they are really important,” Catlett said.
FirstEnergy delays non-critical work during extreme cold spells like this, but they’re on standby to restore power if there is an outage.
“Sometimes, they’re doing other work that may be inside for the day, but they’re to respond if we need them,” Catlett said. “We’re just taking precautions to keep them safe and not send them out there unless we absolutely have to and if we do, we will.”
Catlett says FirstEnergy does inspections to minimize outages in the cold weather, but if you do lose power there are some things you can do including making sure windows are sealed, blinds are shut, and fireplace dampers are closed when not in use.
PJM, a regional transmission group that sells wholesale electricity to companies such as FirstEnergy, hit a record Wednesday.
The group announced that the extreme cold broke its record for winter electricity demand. It reached its peak at 8:15 a.m. Wednesday with a peak load coming in at 145,000 MW, exceeding the previous record of 143,700MW set in February 2015.
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