PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A union representing PECO workers is asking state regulators to investigate whether the utility’s power grid is safe, and PECO is firing back.
Members of IBEW Local 614 gathered at the intersection of 28th and Oakford streets in Grays Ferry on Thursday, where they said a 70-year-old utility pole is threatening the lives of people in the neighborhood.
“When that arm fails, it will not fail in a timely fashion. There will be a fireball bigger than the area [where] we’re standing; wire will hit the ground. People will die,” said Larry Anastasi, president of IBEW Local 614.
Anastasi said workers are coming across obvious safety hazards on a daily basis, and he said PECO lacks oversight and accountability.
“Cross arms, braces, like the one behind me, are splintered and rotting; frayed and damaged overhead wires; transformers that are not sufficiently secure; unstable utility poles; and more,” he described.
Keith Coombs, a first-class lineman out of Philadelphia, said it’s dangerous for workers to repair a pole as damaged as this one.
“This is a very dangerous pole, and it puts not only the member working on it” at risk, but also the public, he said. “The next pole down is a pole that’s at a 45-degree angle.”
The union filed a formal petition with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission asking for a full investigation into the safety of PECO’s electric distribution system. The union also alleges that the problems disproportionately affect poorer communities made up of people of color, a claim that PECO strongly denies.
“We are especially disappointed in that claim because it is absolutely false,” said PECO Chief Operating Officer Nicole LeVine.
PECO said the union’s accusations of unreliability and safety issues are “baseless” and “utterly false,” and LeVine said the petition is a distraction from stalled contract negotiations. The union has been without a contract for months, and PECO recently filed an unfair labor practice complaint, accusing the union of bargaining in bad faith.
Read PECO’s full statement below:
We strongly disagree with IBEW Local 614’s claims, particularly with the accusations that suggest there are racial disparities with the level of service we provide all of our customers. We will be taking the necessary action to respond through the appropriate regulatory and legal processes, including with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC). Safety and reliability are PECO’s top priorities, and our performance and investments reflect that commitment. We’ve continued to make needed investments in our system to deliver the performance that our customers have come to expect, along with our regulators. Our performance speaks for itself, as shown in the most recent Pennsylvania PUC electric reliability report, where PECO was among only two electric utilities in PA to meet industry reliability benchmarks. This work has also resulted in one of the lowest outage rates in company history in 2025. So, the claims by Local 614 are utterly false and baseless. That may not remain the case, however, as we need to continue investing to maintain the level of reliability that our customers are experiencing today, and is a core part of our economic development in PA. We had to withdraw our rate cases due to concerns regarding affordability, which we also understand.
