FirstEnergy Corporation’s FE subsidiary, FirstEnergy Pennsylvania Electric Company (FE PA), completed work to enhance its energy delivery system in Venango and Crawford counties.

The project's goal is to enhance the line's performance, which was impacted by multiple equipment-related outages during the previous five years. About 540 consumers benefit from the rebuilt line's more reliable flow to the Polk substation. The project began in November 2024.

FE’s Project in Details

The project included replacing more than 40 wood poles, crossarms, fuses, switches and other equipment on a power line that delivers electricity to nearly 1,000 customers in Cochranton, Utica, Polk and nearby communities.

Along a 13-mile, 34.5-kilovolt (kV) power line, the crew replaced around 700 outdated porcelain insulators, 42 poles and 53 crossarms. The line runs from a substation in Polk to another along Route 322 north of Utica. Two switches that enable line workers to isolate the damage and temporarily divert power using adjoining lines while repairs were replaced as part of the line reconstruction. This was done in order to lessen the severity and length of service outages.

An outdated manual switch on a pole on the north end of Utica that had to be operated by line technicians on-site has been replaced using a modern remote-control switch that distribution-system operators may operate from miles away.

Investing in Infrastructure: A Necessity

In addition to increasing the demand for electricity, rising temperatures place electric infrastructure at risk of overheating and equipment failures and fires. The expenditures and upkeep are essential to preserving service reliability and ensuring customer satisfaction.

The project is part of Penelec's Long-Term Infrastructure Improvement Plan (LTIIP III), a $538 million initiative to accelerate capital investments in the company's electric distribution system. This system has been serving over five years to help ensure continued electric service reliability for customers.

LTIIP III is part of ‘Energize365’, a multi-year grid development program. This program is focused on transmission and distribution investments to meet FirstEnergy’s existing consumer needs and handle future challenges. The program, with $28 billion in planned investments between 2025 and 2029, is expected to meet and exceed reliability goals and create a smarter, more secure grid that supports electric vehicles, electrification of homes and businesses, and the transition to
clean energy.

Utilities’ Initiatives to Further Enhance Infrastructure

Utilities make systematic investments to upgrade transmission and distribution lines and develop new substations to provide reliable services to customers. The objective is to warrant a proper supply of electricity to millions of customers across the United States.

Along with FirstEnergy, other electric power companies like Dominion Energy D, Exelon Corporation EXC and Entergy Corporation ETR are also taking initiatives to further strengthen their infrastructure.

Dominion plans to upgrade its electric infrastructure by installing smart meters and grid devices. It is also working on a strategic undergrounding project for 4,000 miles of distribution lines. The Virginia Commission has approved seven phases of the program, encompassing approximately 2,200 miles of converted lines and $1.3 billion in capital spending. These initiatives will increase the resilience of D’s operations.

The company’s long-term (three to five years) earnings growth rate is 13.59%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 earnings per share (EPS) implies a year-over-year improvement of 22%.

Exelon invests substantially in infrastructure projects and plans to invest nearly $38 billion in regulated utility operations during 2025-2028. The company is set to invest $21.7 billion in electric distribution and $12.6 billion in electric transmission to further enhance customer reliability.

EXC’s long-term earnings growth rate is 5.99%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 EPS implies year-over-year growth of 6.4%.

Entergy is focused on making systematic investments to further strengthen its infrastructure. ETR plans to invest $16 billion in transmission and distribution during 2025-2028. In January 2025, the Public Utility Commission of Texas unanimously approved Phase I of Entergy Texas’ Future Ready Resiliency Plan, comprised of investments worth $335.1 million. It includes distribution and transmission hardening and modernization projects.

ETR’s long-term earnings growth rate is 9.46%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 EPS implies a year-over-year increase of 6.3%.

FE’s Stock Price Performance

In the past month, shares of FirstEnergy have risen 2.4% against the industry’s 1% decline.

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FE’s Zacks Rank

FirstEnergy currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

 

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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