Investigators seek $4.5M from Met-Ed after man electrocuted

RIEGELSVILLE, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania utility regulators are recommending that power company Metropolitan Edison pay a fine of more than $4.5 million after an investigation into the death of a man electrocuted by a downed live wire in July 2016.

The complaint submitted to the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission board by the commission’s investigation bureau concluded that Met-Ed failed to maintain its transmission lines and to identify defective equipment, putting the public at risk.

On July 26, 2016, Thomas Poynton Jr. went into the backyard of his Williams Township home near Riegelsville after hearing an explosion, according to officials. The 32-year-old teacher never touched the downed 34,500-volt transmission line but was electrocuted and killed by the charged ground around it, officials said. One of Poynton’s dogs was also killed and the house caught fire.

Investigators said the wrong clamps had been used to secure the wire on the substation next to Poynton’s home and a system meant to automatically cut power to fallen lines had failed.