Ohio Edison, The Illuminating Company and Toledo Edison finish inspections, maintenance for summer

FirstEnergy Corp.’s Ohio Utilities, which include Ohio Edison, The Illuminating Company, and Toledo Edison, announced the recent completion of inspections and equipment maintenance meant to enhance customer service reliability.

In all, helicopter-conducted inspections covered nearly 7,200 miles of FirstEnergy owned transmission line circuits throughout Ohio. These patrols scouted for damaged wire, failed insulators, and various hardware problems that cannot be seen from the ground. On the ground, equipment inspections were pursued with thermovision cameras, which take infrared images of electrical equipment to detect substation or power line issues by highlighting hot spots that could require repair.

“We proactively inspect and maintain our equipment to help ensure system reliability to meet the increased electrical demand when the temperatures climb,” Gary Grant, president of FirstEnergy’s Ohio operations, said. “We anticipate more customers will be spending time at home this summer, and our goal is to continue delivering the safe and reliable power they depend on to stay comfortable.”

Between its three utilities in the state, FirstEnergy is responsible for providing power to more than 2 million customers in Ohio. These inspections keep the risk of power outages lowered, and to further aid reliability, the companies have inspected distribution circuits to guarantee equipment like transformers and capacitors are ready to perform under the increased demand of summer heat.

The company’s employees also turned their attention inward this year, completing readiness exercises and drills to test FirstEnergy’s restoration process for repairing storm-related power outages.