MAYS LANDING, N.J. - Atlantic City Electric has launched its response plan in the wake of the severe storm event yesterday to restore power as quickly as possible to its customers.

Crews worked through the night to restore service to customers who lost power as severe thunderstorms brought high winds, lightning and intense rain. While restoration work continues, crews are assessing the extent of the damage to the system. Although Atlantic City Electric has not yet determined when it is expecting to have power restored to the vast majority of customers, it is expected to be a multi-day restoration process.

Mutual assistance crews are coming from as far away as Ohio and New England to assist Atlantic City Electric with repairs. 100 personnel from Jersey Central Power and Light are currently assisting in the restoration. Helicopters are being deployed to help with the assessment and restoration process. Assessment conducted thus far has revealed significant damage to several high-voltage transmission lines, five sub-stations and hundreds of poles and other system equipment.  Damage to the electrical infrastructure includes 20 transmission lines and 372 wires downed.  

The peak number of customers affected by storm outages was approximately 280,000.  Atlantic City Electric has restored power to over 100,000 of those affected customers in the past 13 hours since the height of the storm. Efforts continue to restore power to the remaining affected customers. 

Planning Ahead for Customers

• Assemble an emergency storm kit. Include a battery-powered radio or television, flashlight, a first-aid kit, battery-powered or windup clock, extra batteries, special needs items, an insulated cooler and a list of important and emergency phone numbers.
• Keep at least a three-day supply of nonperishable foods and bottled water and have a hand-operated can opener available. Customers are responsible for customer equipment.
• Make sure you have a telephone with a cord or cell phone to use as a backup. Cordless telephones require electricity to operate, and won't work if there is an outage.
• Protect your electronic equipment. Plug computers and other sensitive equipment into surge suppressors, and consider a UPS (uninterruptible power supply) for temporary battery backup power.
• Identify a safe alternate location in case of an extended outage.
• Tune to local news broadcasts for the latest weather and emergency information.
• Follow the advice of local emergency management officials.
• If candles and heaters are used, never leave them unattended and watch children and pets that could knock them over.

For more information about Atlantic City Electric, visit www.atlanticcityelectric.com. Follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/atlanticcityelectric and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/acelecconnect. Our mobile app is available at www.atlanticcityelectric.com/mobileapp.