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FirstEnergy rep tells Parma council how residents can report leaning poles and persistent outages
Summary
A FirstEnergy local engagement representative briefed Parma council on pole removals, attachments by other providers and inspection cycles, advising residents to send photos and addresses for targeted follow-up; the company said overhead circuit inspections occur on a five-year cycle and forestry clearance follows PUCO rules.
Brian Baer, a FirstEnergy local engagement representative, told Parma City Council on April 20 that residents should send photos and addresses of leaning poles or persistent outages to his email (Bbaer@firstenergycorp.com) so the company can investigate and prioritize repairs.
Baer said a pole at the intersection of Virginia Avenue and Ridge Road (pole 5892) is ready to be pulled and that several attachments on Parma poles — AT&T, Adelphia Business Solutions (ABS) and Cavalier networks — must coordinate to remove lines before FirstEnergy can safely remove a pole. He described another pole near 5825 Ridge Road (by the True North gas station) still carrying Cox and AT&T attachments.
Council members pressed Baer about repeated outages and frequent “flickering” of household lights in several neighborhoods. Baer said FirstEnergy conducts overhead inspections on a five-year cycle and underground inspections as needed; the company’s field teams log issues that require priority repairs and place them on an inspection list for remediation within a year when warranted. He said vegetation clearance follows PUCO guidance and that crews generally maintain 15 feet of clearance from the center of a primary line.
On the causes of momentary flickers, Baer described recloser operations — automatic devices that open then reclose to clear transient faults — and said momentary outages can be caused by tree limbs, animals or similar transient contacts. He offered to have a “power quality” specialist review outage histories for problem addresses and reiterated that photos and specific locations help the company identify chronic problems.
Baer also said a transmission pole project will require work in a Parma park area that could occupy the site from June into November. He said FirstEnergy will notify the city when a new local representative for Cuyahoga County is assigned.
The exchange ended with council members committing to forward problem addresses and photos to Baer for investigation.
