Met-Ed Adds New Line and Substation Employees from Power Systems Institute Training Program

READING, Pa., June 14, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Metropolitan Edison Company (Met-Ed), a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE), has hired 25 graduates of the company's utility worker training program as part of its ongoing efforts to enhance reliability for customers in its eastern Pennsylvania service area.

The new employees include 15 line workers and 10 substation electricians who are recent graduates of the company's Power Systems Institute (PSI), a utility worker training partnership with Reading Area Community College (RACC) in Reading, Pa. 

In addition, four current Met-Ed employees making a career change also completed the PSI substation electrician program at RACC.

"The PSI program is an effective pipeline for adding well-trained, highly skilled employees to our workforce," said Ed Shuttleworth., regional president of Met-Ed.  "By teaming with our veteran linemen and substation personnel, these new employees will help ensure safe and reliable electric service for our customers, now and in the future."

The new lines employees listed by work location, with their hometowns are:

• Gettysburg – Blake Crumbling, Airville
• Hanover – Brade Jenne, Robesonia
• Reading – Trenton Jones, Lebanon; Nolan Lapp, Pine Grove; Jeremy Briedenstein, Blandon; Nicholas Craig, Boyertown; Trent Goods, Reinholds; Nash Gregro, Shillington; Mitchell Reinhart, Bernville; Kirkland Turner, Fleetwood
• Stroudsburg – Wendell Buck, Reading; Jesse Neithammer, Birdsboro
• York – Travis Donmoyer, Annville; Nate Grim, Jacobus; and Peter Hinsey, Reading.

The new substation employees listed by work location, with their hometowns are:

• Easton – Michael Charles, Nazareth; Spencer Ruhmel, Allentown
• Middletown – Shawn Snyder, Reading
• Reading – Abel Gonzalez, Reading; Elijhah Key, Reading; Benjamin Moyer, Kutztown; Corey Shirey, Oley; Mitchell Weglos, Reading
• York – Jordan Blair, Reading; and Josh Myers, York.

PSI is an award-winning, two-year educational program originally developed by FirstEnergy in 2000 to help prepare the company's next generation of utility line and substation workers.     

The PSI curriculum for lines and substation employees requires two-and-a-half days each week spent at Reading Area Community College completing academic course work, with the remainder of the week spent at a Met-Ed training facility in Reading.  All students focus on safe work practices and procedures in the electrical environment.  The graduates earned an associate of applied science degree in Electric Utility Technology.

Since the program's inception, FirstEnergy has hired about 1,300 line and 420 substation personnel who completed PSI programs in Maryland, West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

For information about how to enroll in the PSI program, call 1-800-829-6801, or go to www.firstenergycorp.com/psi.

Met-Ed serves approximately 560,000 customers in 15 Pennsylvania counties.  Follow Met-Ed on Twitter @Met Ed and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MetEdElectric.

FirstEnergy is dedicated to safety, reliability and operational excellence.  Its 10 electric distribution companies form one of the nation's largest investor-owned electric systems, serving customers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, Maryland and New York.  The company's transmission subsidiaries operate more than 24,000 miles of transmission lines that connect the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions. Follow FirstEnergy on Twitter @FirstEnergyCorp or online at www.firstenergycorp.com.

Editor's Note:  Photos of FirstEnergy's Power Systems Institute training program are available for download on Flickr.

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SOURCE FirstEnergy Corp.