November 16, 2005

The last of the joint Pepco Holding, Inc (PHI) crews sent to Florida to help restore power in the wake of Hurricane Wilma arrived home this week after spending more than two weeks in and around Miami.  Those crews included 9 linemen and support personnel from Atlantic City Electric,

"Our crew members worked full 16 hour days.  They did a great job and they did it safely," said PHI Manager of Emergency Management George Gacser who served as Incident Manager during this mutual assistance effort.  Mutual assistance is the process through which utilities across the country send each other much-needed qualified personnel during emergencies.

This latest mutual assistance effort by employees from Atlantic City Electric, Delmarva Power and Pepco was recognized earlier this month by the Mayor and town commissioners of Surfside, a small community north of Miami, when they presented a CERTIFICATE OF RECOGNITION to PHI in appreciation of the crew members' "tireless effort and outstanding work in restoring power in the Community."

Gacser said Surfside had been without power for ten days when PHI crews arrived and started their restoration efforts.  "Our crews restored power to the entire community and Surfside's Mayor made a point of commenting on the courtesy and the competency of our members."

"We're happy to be home.  We're tired but we take great satisfaction knowing we were able to help so many people," said Gacser who added that "you definitely get a good feeling from the knowledge you're helping out."  Gacser said even when the crews were in their convoys traveling throughout Florida they would get a 'thumbs up' from other drivers and noted that motorists would come up to them in rest areas and thank them for helping out. 

Crew members from Atlantic City Electric, Delmarva Power and Pepco made up the PHI team sent to Florida, enabling each utility to take part in this mutual assistance effort without negatively impacting operations at home.  This was the third time in as many months that local crews headed out for weeks at a time in order to help communities hit by this year's catastrophic hurricane season. 

"When Hurricane Isabel hit the Mid-Atlantic two years ago, hundreds of utility workers from across the country came to our assistance.  This year, it was our turn to offer that same kind of help to communities in need," Gacser said.

###

Atlantic City Electric, a public utility owned by Pepco Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: POM), provides safe, reliable and affordable regulated electric delivery services to more than 500,000 customers in Southern New Jersey.