Ohio Edison rep explains storm restoration priorities, streetlight reporting to Struthers council

Troy Rhodes, external affairs director for Ohio Edison/FirstEnergy, told the Struthers City Council on Jan. 29, 2025, that electric restoration after major storms is triaged by public-safety priorities and circuit size and that residents should track outage ticket numbers when reporting hazards.

Rhodes said restoration crews prioritize life-safety locations such as hospitals, 911 centers, fire and police facilities and polling locations on election days, then address the largest circuits first because they serve the most customers. "Priorities are first hospitals, like safety, then public safety, fire, police, departments, 911 cells," Rhodes said.

The council heard several operational details that bear on how quickly lights and service are restored. Rhodes said the city has roughly 780 street lights; the count he gave breaks down as about 740–745 traditional municipal street lights, roughly 25 energy-only "Struthers" post lights that the city provides power for but must maintain, and…