Project to reduce outages for 1,900 customers in West Virginia and Maryland

WILLIAMSPORT, Md. , Oct. 3, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- A new substation in Morgan County, West Virginia, is boosting power reliability for nearly 2,000 residents and businesses served by Potomac Edison, a FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE) electric company. Modern features and cutting-edge technology mean fewer and shorter outages for area customers.

Construction on the project started last summer, and the substation began serving customers in September.

Jim Myers, FirstEnergy's President, West Virginia and Maryland: "This new substation will significantly elevate the standard of service for our customers. We're building the foundation for the future with smarter, stronger infrastructure that keeps electricity flowing to homes and businesses in Morgan County and across our region."

Weather-Ready Upgrades

The new substation in Great Cacapon replaces an older facility that depended on a six-mile-long power line winding through hard-to-reach, rocky and mountainous terrain.

Located on a 20-acre site owned by Potomac Edison, the substation is served by a safer, easily reachable power line that is less susceptible to service interruptions, particularly during severe weather. Completion of the work is a major step forward in helping to keep the lights on for nearly 1,600 customers in the Great Cacapon area and more than 320 in Little Orleans, Maryland.

The older substation and connecting power line will be safely removed.

Smart Technology, Faster Restoration

The new substation is equipped with smart grid technology, including automated devices that:

• Detect and isolate problems automatically.
• Restore service remotely without dispatching a crew.
• Pinpoint outage locations to speed up repairs.

These upgrades mean fewer, shorter and less widespread outages for customers. Watch a video explaining how smart grid technology works.

Meeting today's needs and tomorrow's growth

This substation project is part of Energize365, FirstEnergy's $28 billion investment program across its five-state footprint to modernize the electric grid between 2025 and 2029. The goal: a smarter, more secure grid that meets the needs of today's customers and tomorrow's growth.

Potomac Edison serves about 285,000 customers in all or parts of Allegany, Carroll, Frederick, Garrett, Howard, Montgomery and Washington counties in Maryland and about 155,000 customers in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. Follow Potomac Edison at potomacedison.com, on X at @PotomacEdison, and on Facebook at facebook.com/PotomacEdison.

FirstEnergy is dedicated to integrity, safety, reliability and operational excellence. Its electric distribution companies form one of the nation's largest investor-owned electric systems, serving more than six million customers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, Maryland and New York. The company's transmission subsidiaries operate approximately 24,000 miles of transmission lines that connect the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions. Follow FirstEnergy online at firstenergycorp.com and on X @FirstEnergyCorp.

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SOURCE FirstEnergy Corp.