PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Working 12 to 16 hour shifts – around the clock – more than 4,000 PECO employees, contractors and workers (from as far away as Pittsburgh, Florida, Michigan and PECO’s Chicago-based sister utility ComEd) have restored service to 475,000 of the 500,000 PECO customers impacted by Hurricane Irene.
PECO expects service to be restored to most customers currently without electricity by Wednesday night. Service for a small number of customers, with the most isolated damage, should be restored before the weekend. Crews are currently focused on remaining jobs, each of which could require hours and hours of work, to restore service to all customers remaining without power.
Hurricane Irene left 6.7 million customers without power in 14 U.S. states according to the Department of Energy. Currently more than 2.5 million customers remain without service along the East Coast, with hundreds of thousands without power in neighboring states. Ranking as one of the top five worst storms in PECO history, the storm brought 10 inches of torrential rains and more than 24 hours of winds gusting to about 75 mph.
In less than 48 hours since the storm moved out of our region, PECO field forces have completed more than 2,500 repair jobs, including more than 640 jobs related to damaged trees. Crews also have replaced:
- 82 miles of wire
- 13,270 fuses
- 1,888 cross arms
- 110 poles
- 65 transformers
At 4 p.m. on Tuesday about 25,000 customers remain without service. Specifically:
- Bucks County = 9,000
- Chester County = 4,000
- Delaware County = 8,000
- Montgomery County = 3,000
- Philadelphia County = 500
- York County = 500
In addition to efforts restoring electric service, PECO also is supporting communities that suffered extensive flooding along the Brandywine, Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers. Electric and natural gas service will be restored to these areas as flood waters recede and it is safe to do so.
While clean up continues, customers should stay away from downed power lines and damaged equipment. Always assume PECO’s equipment is energized, even if there is an outage in your neighborhood. Customers in flooded areas are also reminded to stay away from any flood-covered electric equipment and never enter basements that are flooded. Report dangerous conditions to PECO immediately at 1-800-841-4141.
Based in Philadelphia, PECO is an electric and natural gas utility subsidiary of Exelon Corporation (NYSE: EXC). PECO serves 1.6 million electric and 490,000 natural gas customers in southeastern Pennsylvania and employs about 2,400 people in the region. PECO delivered 87.9 billion cubic feet of natural gas and 39.5 billion kilowatt-hours-hours of electricity in 2010. Founded in 1881, PECO is one of the Greater Philadelphia Region's most active corporate citizens, providing leadership, volunteer and financial support to numerous arts and culture, education, environmental, economic development and community programs and organizations.
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