PUC Report Makes Recommendations Coming Out Of April/May Storms In The Greater Pittsburgh, State College Areas Causing 679,000 Electric Customers To Lose Power

On January 5, the Public Utility Commission released a final post-storm report examining electric utilities’ preparation and response – and outlining key recommendations to strengthen future storm planning, coordination, and system resilience statewide, following a comprehensive review of a major spring storm that caused widespread power outages across western Pennsylvania.

The April 29, 2025, storm brought prolonged, damaging winds across large portions of the Commonwealth, cutting electric service to hundreds of thousands of customers and stressing utility infrastructure, emergency coordination, and restoration resources. 

The National Weather Services reported winds exceeding 70 to 80 miles per hour.

679,000 customers in the Greater Pittsburgh and State College areas were severely impacted with wind damage and power outages.

While the storm’s most significant impacts were concentrated in parts of southwestern Pennsylvania, the PUC emphasized that similar large-scale events can – and do – affect communities across the state.

Following the storm, the Commission directed its Bureau of Technical Utility Services (TUS) –which includes specialists in emergency response and electric reliability—to conduct a detailed post-event review. 

That review examined storm preparation, staffing and mutual aid practices, outage restoration, emergency coordination, and customer communications among the electric distribution companies most impacted by the event.

Based on its analysis, TUS identified 25 findings and 10 recommendations aimed at improving how utilities prepare for, respond to, and recover from large-scale service outages. 

While the findings reflect conditions observed during this specific storm, the Commission stressed that the recommendations are intended to inform statewide improvements as severe storms become more frequent and more disruptive to utility systems.

Key Findings

Among the report’s key conclusions:

-- Utilities’ preparatory steps were generally appropriate based on available weather and outage forecasts, but electric distribution companies should continue to work on improving weather forecasting and outage prediction modelling.

-- Large-scale events continue to test electric distribution company assumptions about staffing, logistics, and restoration timelines.

-- Electric distribution companies continue to face challenges in providing consistent and reliable estimated times of restoration during complex storm events.

-- Sufficient access to skilled line workers – both internal and through mutual aid – is critical to restoring service safely and efficiently following major outages.

-- Coordination with county emergency management agencies and local officials was generally effective and remains a critical component of storm response.

-- Extended outages have a disproportionate impact on medically vulnerable customers and other populations with heightened needs during service disruptions.

Strengthening Planning for Future Storms

A central recommendation of the report is the re-establishment of a statewide Electric Distribution Company Storm Best Practices Group, which would focus on translating lessons learned into measurable improvements across the industry.

The Commission recommended that this group prioritize issues such as:

-- Storm response planning and scalability

-- Estimated time of restoration processes and communications

-- Mutual aid coordination and crew management

-- Road closure coordination and safety protocols

-- Sharing best practices and lessons learned from major events

Additional recommendations call for utilities to refine restoration forecasting, strengthen call center performance during high-volume events, enhance coordination with emergency management agencies, and continue investing in infrastructure hardening and system resilience.

A Statewide Focus on Resilience

The PUC emphasized that while this review was prompted by a specific storm, its findings and recommendations are relevant to every electric utility operating in Pennsylvania. 

Major outage events are not confined to any one region, and future storms could just as easily impact eastern, central, or northern parts of the Commonwealth.

By strengthening planning, coordination, and restoration practices now, the Commission said, utilities can improve reliability, protect public safety, and reduce the duration and impact of outages when severe weather occurs.

Click Here for a copy of the report.

Click Here for the PUC announcement.

(Photo: Duquesne Light storm damage, April, 2025.)

[Posted: January 5, 2026]  PA Environment Digest