FirstEnergy's utilities are making it easier for customers to check the progress of service restoration efforts when they experience a power outage. 

The company's 24/7 Power Center outage maps now display the status of crews restoring service after a power outage in the Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company, Ohio Edison, Toledo Edison, Met-Ed, Penelec, Penn Power, West Penn Power, Jersey Central Power & Light, Mon Power and Potomac Edison service areas. 

With this enhancement, FirstEnergy utility customers can see when crews have been dispatched, when they are working on a repair, and when additional crews or equipment are needed to complete restoration work.  This information is also provided through the companies' web-based outage information, and text messaging and alert services.

"We work continuously to improve the experience for our customers on two fronts: strengthening and enhancing service reliability, and making it easier for customers to connect with us and get the information they need if they do experience a power outage," said Steve Strah, vice president of Distribution Support. "This new feature, combined with estimated restoration times and outage causes, is designed to give customers a better idea of what is being done to quickly restore their service."

This new service complements the broad array of communication tools introduced by FirstEnergy's utilities in the past year, such as subscribe to email and text message alert notifications to receive weather alerts in advance of major storms, and updates on scheduled or extended power outages. Customers can also use two-way text messaging to report outages, request updates on restoration efforts, and make other inquiries about their electric accounts. 

Additionally, each utility provides a smartphone app for Apple iPhone and Android devices.

FirstEnergy is a diversified energy companythat includes 10 electric distribution companies throughout the Northeast.