The first day of summer in our region is expected to be a scorcher and people are hoping for no more power outages.
 
Girard has had continual problems that impact around half of it's city residents.
 
We sought out FirstEnergy to find out what its plans are to address the problems in Girard and our region.
 
With temperatures reaching the 90's this week people won't be happy if their electricity goes out, plus their health could be at risk if a power outage lasts for a considerable amount of time.
 
Girard city council says outages have been so prevalent for residents in half of the city, they are tired of excuses and promises to deliver better service by FirstEnergy.
 
Council President Reynold Paolone tells WFMJ News there have been around 20 power outages over the past year and says FirstEnergy should be way ahead of the curve. 
 
But FirstEnergy says it is working on reliability and work that was given approval by the PUCO in 2019.  The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio regulates that industry. 
 
The company says its system is designed and maintained to operate in all types of weather conditions including intense heat.
 
Senior Communications Representative for FirstEnergy,  Lauren Siburkis said, "At this time we don't anticipate any type of outages or disruptions to our service as a result of heat."
 
FirstEnergy says reliability issues are being addressed by grid modernization that is currently underway.
 
Modernization includes retiring the T450 circuit feed from Niles-McKinley and serving Girard from a nearby circuit and a newly constructed backup line.
 
This will offer backup power to help keep lights on if wires or equipment on if regular lines are damaged.
 
First Energy is also creating additional circuit lines along power lines.
 
This will allow flexibility in restoring an outage faster and isolate outages to fewer customers.
 
The company will install new automated reclosing devices in substations and along power lines at substations.
 
FirstEnergy says this will help limit the frequency, duration, and scope of service interruptions.
 
Trees are scheduled to be trimmed and cut along power lines as regularly scheduled this year.
 
Skeptical residents say they will believe it when their lights and power stop going out.