A power surge Sunday morning in Foster Township blew out appliances, furnaces and more at homes in the area, losses that need to be reported to Penelec to start a claims process.

Todd Meyers, Penelec spokesman, explained what happened.

“The surge occurred on Sunday during high winds and rain that snapped the top off a dead ash tree on a steep hillside, dropping into our power lines in a heavily wooded area at the end of Babcock Road near Derrick City and just beyond a couple of baseball fields,” Meyers said.

“The tree was taller than 75 feet and located off of the right-of-way beyond where Penelec is permitted to trim trees.”

He continued, “The outage occurred at 9:45 a.m., impacting 98 customers. Most customers had their power restored by 11:43 a.m.

“Some customers experienced a surge because when the tree fell, it pinned the 34,500-volt power line positioned at the top of the pole against the 8,000-volt power line attached lower to the same pole,” Meyers said. “Rather than having side-by-side power lines that require more right-of-way, it is common practice for electric utilities, including Penelec, to place two lines on the same pole. Surges can occur when the higher voltage line contacts the lower voltage line, which can sometimes damage customer equipment.”

He added that customers should file a claim with Penelec, which is usually required by many insurance companies before they will consider a claim.

“Any customers who sustained damage Sunday should phone 1-800-545-7741 to file a claim with Penelec. We will investigate each claim and then get back in touch with the customer. So far, we have received 13 claims from customers related to Sunday’s incident,” Meyers said.

He said a similar incident happened in 2018.

Many residents took to social media, saying losses like this are more than residents can afford to address.

“Many in the Derrick Road and Kendall Avenue areas suffered incredible equipment losses in Sunday’s latest electrical power surge,” read a post on the popular site I Grew Up In Bradford, PA. “This is not the 1st time surges/losses have occurred.”

Norm Strotman, a resident of South Kendall Avenue, contacted The Era about the power surge, saying this one wasn’t the first.

“It’s been at least four in 5 years, resulting in the loss of thousands of dollars of appliances, household items and lights,” he said. “My neighbors have had it much worse.”

And they are fed up.

Strotman said, “We are organizing a special meeting for all residents affected by these surges with the Foster Township supervisors to coalesce around this issue. A date and time will be announced soon.”

Rep. Marty Causer, R-Turtlepoint, has been helping, gathering complaints to turn in to Penelec, but also to the Public Utility Commission. Penelec is a subsidiary of FirstEnergy.

“The bigger issue is I think Penelec needs to make some improvements in their infrastructure,” the legislator said. “I’m certainly pressing Penelec to speed things up.”

He mentioned that residents and businesses, like the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford and American Refining Group, have made it clear over the years that these power issues need to be resolved.

“Infrastructure upgrades need to take place to ensure the service is reliable,” Causer said. “They need to make sure proper maintenance is happening to limit these problems.”

Meyers said a major project is in the works for that power line.

“Penelec is in the planning and design stage for a major project — perhaps as soon as next year — to replace worn poles and cross arms and other equipment along that power line,” he said. “Forestry crews will also check the right-of-way to see if there are any dangerous trees located off the right-of-way that we might be able to address or other conditions to mitigate.”

Causer urged residents to keep speaking out, “So we’re making sure we’re getting these complaints heard. People in our area can’t afford to keep buying appliances and insurance companies sure don’t want to buy them.

He added, “We’re going to keep pressing the electric company and the Public Utility Commission on the issue.”