MAYS LANDING, N.J. - On the day after the storm of disastrous proportions hit the mid-Atlantic region, Atlantic City Electric crews have restored power to major parts of the backbone of the region's electricity infrastructure. Power to many high-voltage transmission lines and substations has been restored.

Damage assessment teams continue to evaluate the destruction to the system so that the information will be used to guide the restoration effort. Additional damage assessment teams have been brought in from outside the company to assist in this effort. 

Also on Saturday, tree crews worked to clear fallen trees off of downed power lines so utility crews could rebuild or replace the damaged poles, wires and transformers. Mutual assistance utilities have committed crews from New York and Northern New Jersey to assist with restoring power. At the peak, early Saturday morning, 206,000 customers had their power knocked out by the storm. As of 10 a.m. this morning, 119,000 customers remain without power. Atlantic County and Cumberland County were especially hard hit.

Winds in excess of 70 miles per hour uprooted trees and blew down limbs, which brought down numerous power lines and broke crossarms and poles. More than 180 resources including linemen, tree crews, Call Center staff and field support personnel were deployed on Saturday. An additional 400 resources were deployed at 6 a.m. Sunday to support restoration efforts.  All available Atlantic City Electric employees have been mobilized for the restoration effort.

The storm that meteorologists are calling a "derecho" brought winds in excess of 70 miles per hour that uprooted trees and tore off limbs. Line crews, tree crews, call center staff and field support personnel have been deployed around the clock to support efforts to restore service. All Atlantic City Electric employees have been mobilized for the restoration effort.

Atlantic City Electric is focusing immediate efforts on restoring power to substations and substation supply lines as well as critical public facilities such as hospitals, fire stations, water filtration plants and police stations.

It could take until midnight, Friday, July 6 before all Atlantic City Electric customers are back in service, although the majority of customers are expected to have power restored by sometime on July 4. Tomorrow's weather forecast calls for more thunderstorms, which could cause additional outages and impact restoration progress.

"We received and deployed additional crews this morning, and we are making solid progress on our restoration efforts," said Vince Maione, Atlantic City Region President. "This has been a massive undertaking with great progress made, but much more work is needed to restore power to all customers."

Currently, Atlantic City Electric is making recorded outbound calls to customers to update them on the restoration status. All outages and downed wires should be reported to 1-800-833-7476, through atlanticcityelectric.com or through the mobile app, available for downloading at atlanticcityelectric.com/mobileapp. Customers should request a call back to verify their power has been restored.

Atlantic City Electric Encourages Safety Precautions
After severe storms, Atlantic City Electric urges customers to take safety precautions. Our safety tips include:

• Stay away from downed wires. Call 1-800-833-7476 and follow the prompts to report a downed wire or an outage.
• Avoid crews working in the street. This will keep you and the crews safe, and allow them to work on restoring your power.
• Visit atlanticcityelectric.com for safety tips and follow the advice of your local emergency management officials.
• If you plan to use a portable generator, follow the manufacturer's instructions and use only when necessary. Don't overload it and turn it off at night, while you sleep and when you are away from home.
• Locate a portable generator in a well-ventilated area. Never run it inside, even in your garage, to avoid the potential hazard of carbon monoxide. Do not connect the generator directly into your home's main fuse box or circuit panel.
• Protect food and refrigerated medicine with regular ice in an insulated cooler. If you are without power for more than two hours, refrigerated foods should be placed in a cooler. Foods will stay frozen for 36 to 48 hours in a fully loaded freezer if the door remains closed, and a half-full freezer will generally keep frozen food for up to 24 hours.
• Turn off power to flood-prone basement appliances if it is safe to do so. However, if you have an electrically operated sump pump, you should not turn off the power in your basement.
• Tune in to local news broadcasts for the latest weather and emergency information.
• Take cover if necessary

Customers Asked to Report Power Outages
Customers' reports are vital to Atlantic City Electric's restoration efforts. Customers are asked to report outages at atlanticcityelectric.com or by calling 1-800-833-7476 and following the prompts on the automated system. If reporting an emergency or another life-threatening situation such as downed wires, customers should immediately call 1-800-833-7476 and follow the appropriate prompts.

Atlantic City Electric also recommends, when reporting an outage, customers request a call back. Call backs allow us to notify customers when work in their area is completed and they also help locate outages that may be specific to customers' homes.

To keep up-to-date, customers are encouraged to visit the atlanticcityelectric.com web site and listen to local radio stations for updates or use the mobile app.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter at ACElecConnect and download our mobile app at www.atlanticcityelectric.com/mobileapp.


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 540,000 customers in southern New Jersey.