FirstEnergy Corp. utilities have sent 184 employees - including 71 line crews - to Gaithersburg, Maryland, to help restore electrical service to Pepco customers affected by the storm that hit the greater Washington, D.C. area on Sunday.

All seven of FirstEnergy's utilities are part of the mutual assistance effort, including 20 crews from Ohio Edison/Pennsylvania Power, 15 from Pennsylvania Electric Company, 10 from Toledo Edison, 10 from Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company, 10 from Jersey Central Power & Light, and six from Metropolitan Edison Company. Managers, mechanics and safety personnel also are included in the company's contingent.

"Our industry has a long-standing tradition of working together to restore electrical service after severe weather events," said Charles E. Jones, Jr., senior vice president & president, FirstEnergy Utilities. "When it comes to storm restoration work, our employees have shown time and time again that they are some of the best in the business."

FirstEnergy is a member of multiple electric utility mutual-assistance groups that work cooperatively to restore service to customers when a natural disaster causes large-scale power outages. In the past, FirstEnergy and its employees have been honored by the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) with its "Emergency Assistance Award" for the mutual assistance the company has provided during winter and summer storms. Most recently, the company won the EEI award for providing assistance to utilities in Kentucky and Ohio following severe ice storms in January of 2009.