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Grid Upgrades Aim to Reduce Outages, Speed Power Restoration for Westmoreland County Customers

News Provided by PR Newswire2025-12-01

Grid Upgrades Aim to Reduce Outages, Speed Power Restoration for Westmoreland County Customers

[01-December-2025]

Electric service upgrades part of $368 million investment in the area

GREENSBURG, Pa., Dec. 1, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- FirstEnergy Pennsylvania Electric Company (FE PA), a FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE) company known locally as West Penn Power, is rebuilding a key section of its Westmoreland County power grid with stronger equipment and smart technology to make electric service more reliable and resilient for residents and businesses. Once the work is complete, nearly 5,000 customers in New Kensington, Arnold and Lower Burrell are expected to experience fewer outages and faster restoration if outages do occur.

Smarter Grid, Stronger Service
Crews are upgrading two local power lines – one on 7^th Street Road between Lower Burrell and New Kensington and another near Drey Street in Arnold – by installing over a mile of stronger, bigger wire. The new lines will be able to handle more electricity and stand up better to bad weather.

Other work includes:

New equipment: Replacing more than 50 wooden utility poles, 97 crossarms, 10 transformers, 22 fuses and 38 lightning-protection devices to harden the system.
Tree trimming: Clearing vegetation along the lines to reduce the risk of tree-related outages.
Remote Switching: Adding eight reclosing switches that shut off power when trouble occurs and automatically restore service within seconds for certain types of outages. The switches also help crews find problems faster and reroute electricity remotely.
New Tie Line: Linking two local power lines to make it easier to shift customers from one line to another when repairs are needed.

John Hawkins, FirstEnergy President, Pennsylvania: "Our investments in innovative technology and stronger equipment help us deliver safe, dependable service for our customers and support growth in our communities. The 7^th Street Road line runs through thick woods and sometimes experiences tree-related damage during severe weather. New switches will make it possible to quickly transfer thousands of customers from this line to a nearby one, keeping their lights on while we make repairs."

Photos of remote-controlled switches and crews installing wire in Westmoreland County are available on Flickr. Watch a video that shows how remote-controlled reclosers work.

The project started in August and is expected to wrap up this month.

Part of a Larger Plan
The upgrades are part of FE PA's Long Term Infrastructure Improvement Plan (LTIIP) III, which fast-tracks important investments in electric system reliability. The LTIIP III investment for the West Penn district's service area is $368 million.

LTIIP is part of Energize365, FirstEnergy's long-term investment program to modernize the electric grid. FirstEnergy plans to invest $28 billion through Energize365 between 2025 and 2029. The goal: a smarter, more secure grid that meets the needs of today's customers and tomorrow's growth.

West Penn Power serves approximately 725,000 customers in 24 counties within central and southwestern Pennsylvania. Follow West Penn Power on X @W_Penn_Power and on Facebook at facebook.com/WestPennPower.

FirstEnergy is dedicated to integrity, safety, reliability and operational excellence. Its electric distribution companies form one of the nation's largest investor-owned electric systems, serving more than 6 million customers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, Maryland and New York. The company's transmission subsidiaries operate approximately 24,000 miles of transmission lines that connect the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions. Follow FirstEnergy online at firstenergycorp.com and on X @FirstEnergyCorp.