Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp., the parent company of Ohio Edison, spent $450 million last year on reliability projects and other work, including building new transmission lines, new substations, and installing remote-control equipment to help reduce the number and duration of power outages.
“The infrastructure projects we completed in 2015 and in previous years are making a difference when it comes to making our system more robust,” said Randall A. Frame, regional president for Ohio Edison in a press release. “In 2015, Ohio Edison customers overall averaged less than one outage for the year, and when an interruption did occur the average time to restore power was shorter than the previous year.”
Spending was down in 2015 compared to 2014, when the company spent $690 million in Ohio Edison. Company spokesman Mark Durbin said less was spent on major transmission projects in 2015.
Some of the key in Ohio Edison’s territory included:
• Replacing wire on a 138-kV transmission line that runs between substations in Akron and Barberton for $1.7 million.
• Installing remote-control equipment and circuit breaker upgrades at various substations throughout the Ohio Edison area at an estimated cost of $3.9 million to help reduce the number and duration of power outages customers might experience.
• Inspecting 58,000 utility poles in the Ohio Edison area at a cost of more than $5.7 million. More than 2,100 were replaced or reinforced, as needed.
• Spending $1.4 million to complete a substation in Akron.