Officials Say Utility Was Overwhelmed, Not Unprepared

MetEd was as prepared as it could be, but widespread overwhelmed the utility provider, company officials told members of Easton City Council Tuesday night.

“We already had crews from other parts of First Energy and contractors in position,” external affairs manager Marc Troutman said. “We were not taken by surprise...We more than doubled our workforce.. With the leaves still on the trees, we knew this would be a tree event.”

Despite having extra crews and trucks on stand-by a day before the storm hit, the sheer number of outages, combined with other factors such as blocked roads, impeded restoring power to residents, many of who were after the incident.

Still, the company admits communication with the city and residents could have been more efficient.

“The first two days we were really trying to get our arms around the situation, Troutman said.

He added the company is taking the October storm, along with lessons learned during , and using them to improve company communications, especially during a major event.

MetEd is tweeting updates on Twitter since Irene, and the company also has plans to add a Facebook account soon, he said.

“You wouldn't believe how many people told us we needed to be there,” Troutman said.

Despite the lack of electricity during such events, many people are able to access social media accounts through smart phones, he said.

Still, residents are unlikely to be able to get exact estimates of service restoration for their neighborhoods under the current system, especially when a major storm causes such deep, widespread damage.

“The bottom line on the communication thing is, in two days, we don't know what time someone on Pennsylvania Avenue will be back on line,” Troutman said.

Field logistics have a lot to do with that, he added.

“You have to realize, not every truck has everything you need to fix every problem. That's why we go out and assess things,” Troutman said.

The public can help by calling in issues they see.

“Whenever someone sees a downed line or wire, we need them to call it in, or it's not in our system,” he said.

After that, “calling every two hours doesn't help” he noted, but that initial call to let the company know about each issue is important.

“Unless someone calls it in, we may not know a problem is there,” he said.

The October storm and the subsequent outages emphasize people's reliance on electricity in modern life, Troutman noted.

“It may be one of the cheapest things you pay for each month, but if you don't have it you really want it,” he said. “You couldn't make those nine days (of storm repairs) three days if you tried, no matter how many resources you threw at it. We're still making permanent repairs in some places.”