Restoration efforts continue following a massive storm that left approximately one million customers of FirstEnergy's Ohio and western Pennsylvania operating companies without power Sunday evening.

As of 11 a.m. Tuesday, work had been completed on 1,200 work orders -- those affecting the largest number of customers -- restoring service to 700,000 customers. More than 2,500 line and forestry workers and hazard responders -- including some 400 workers from other utilities and FirstEnergy operating companies outside the affected areas -- are working to restore service to our remaining 300,000 customers.

While service to more than 70 percent of affected customers has been restored, the remaining work is particularly labor-intensive, with smaller numbers of customers being restored with each repair. Of the remaining outage orders, an estimated 8,000 involve fewer than 50 customers, with approximately 6,500 of those affecting a single customer.

"Safety remains our top priority as we work to clean up following this devastating storm," said Donald R. Schneider, senior vice president, Energy Delivery and Customer Service, for FirstEnergy. "Considering the number of lines that came down as a result of the high winds and tree branches, we want to remind customers to keep their children away from downed power lines. Even though power is out, the wires could be carrying electricity and always should be considered dangerous. This is especially important in areas where children are playing in backyards and wires could be hidden underneath debris."

The storm caused downed branches, trees and power lines throughout FirstEnergy's Ohio Edison, Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company, Pennsylvania Electric and Pennsylvania Power service territories. Due to the widespread damage to electrical facilities, complete restoration could take until the end of the week.

With restoration efforts continuing over the next several days, water and ice will be distributed to our affected customers free of charge at participating Giant Eagle and Buehler's stores.

The company has handled nearly half a million calls from customers reporting power outages.