The Illuminating Company Completes Another Major Reliability Upgrade in Lakewood Ahead of Schedule

Second transformer now serving customers, marking another milestone in strengthening reliability in Lakewood

LAKEWOOD, Ohio, Nov. 2, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE) electric company The Illuminating Company has completed another major step in its ongoing efforts to strengthen reliability in Lakewood by energizing a second transformer at the Lakewood Substation four months ahead of schedule.

The approximately 55-ton transformer was delivered from a local service center to the substation on Athens Avenue earlier this month and placed into service last week after crews completed installation and testing. The first transformer was delivered and energized earlier this year. Together, they increase the substation's capacity and give system operators greater flexibility to manage the flow of electricity across the system and respond to outages.

"Customers want reliable power and they want to know we're making progress on our commitment to strengthen reliability in Lakewood," said Torrence Hinton, President of FirstEnergy Ohio. "Completing this work ahead of schedule is a meaningful milestone that strengthens the system and supports the homes and businesses that depend on it every day."

What This Means for Customers

Transformers play a critical role in delivering electricity safely and reliably to homes and businesses. With both transformers in service, the operations team has more options to reroute power when outages occur, helping restore service faster and reducing the impact when equipment problems happen. The added capacity also allows circuits from the Lakewood Substation to support customers served by neighboring substations when needed, helping reduce the impact of outages and improve reliability across the broader area.

While no electric system can prevent every outage, these upgrades provide additional tools and capacity to help maintain reliable service and respond more effectively when interruptions occur.

Each transformer represents an approximately $1.85 million investment, which includes the equipment, transportation and installation. The project is part of The Illuminating Company's ongoing work to strengthen the local electric system and improve reliability for customers across the community.

Customers can track progress through a dedicated project map showing completed improvements, projects currently underway and future investments planned for the Lakewood area. View the map here.

The Illuminating Company serves more than 750,000 customers across Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake and Lorain counties. Follow The Illuminating Company on X @IlluminatingCo and on Facebook at facebook.com/IlluminatingCo.

FirstEnergy is dedicated to integrity, safety, reliability and operational excellence. Its electric distribution companies form one of the nation's largest investor-owned electric systems, serving more than 6 million 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 online at firstenergycorp.com and on X @FirstEnergyCorp.

SOURCE FirstEnergy Corp.