MAYS LANDING, N.J. - Atlantic City Electric crews are assessing the extensive damage to the region's electric system caused by Hurricane Sandy and are beginning to restore service to the estimated 217,000 customers whose service was interrupted.

"Atlantic City Electric is bringing in as many resources as we can from across the country to respond to this widespread disaster," said Vince Maione, Regional President for Atlantic City Electric. "We are coordinating our efforts with state, county and local officials to help our customers and communities recover."

To further assist in this community-wide effort, Atlantic City Electric is contributing $50,000 to the American Red Cross Southern Shore Chapter.

"We are still feeling the residual effects of the storm today, including massive flooding, which could impede our efforts in the days ahead," Maione added. "We are, nevertheless, going to do all we can to restore electric service to our customers across southern New Jersey as quickly and safely as possible and we won't stop until the work is done."

Atlantic City Electric urges the public to stay away from all downed wires and treat them as if they are energized. Contact with electric current could be fatal. Individuals also should stay away from flooded areas because they could hide live electrical wires.

If residents experience an outage or see a downed wire, they should report it by calling Atlantic City Electric at 800-833-7476.

The return to normal service will require an extensive assessment and restoration process. We ask customers to be safe, to be patient and to abide by the directions of emergency management officials during this community recovery effort.