With heavy snow, rain and high winds expected to cause power interruptions in some areas served by FirstEnergy Corp.'s utilities, customers now can view timely, accurate, and easy-to-use outage information through the company's new online outage maps.
FirstEnergy's "24/7 Power Center" maps are accessible on desktops, smart phones and mobile devices. The user-friendly system features industry-leading mapping technology to quickly search for power outages by state, county, community or zip code. The maps also include links that allow customers to report service interruptions.
The new interactive maps use color coding to provide a quick snapshot of the number of customers affected by power outages across FirstEnergy's Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, New York and West Virginia service areas, and allow customers to easily zoom in to access local outage information from their utility. In addition to the maps, outage reports are also available in an easy-to-read table format that show county- by-county totals. During major storm events or other emergencies, the maps will feature a prominent alert with links to outage-related news, safety reminders, and other important information. To make the 24/7 Power Center maps even more customer-friendly, additional enhancements are planned later this year, including more detailed estimated restoration times during large-scale weather events, and the ability for customers to receive outage communications updates via text messaging and email. The maps can be accessed from the FirstEnergy website and are also available from each of the 10 operating company websites.
