For Immediate Release
Contact
Frank Tedesco
866-655-2237 (media hotline)
MAYS LANDING, N.J. (August 5, 2020) – Atlantic City Electric has restored electric service for more than 155,000 customers impacted by Tropical Storm Isaias. This major storm, which moved out of South Jersey just last night, was one of the most destructive and impactful storms in Atlantic City Electric's history, ranking fourth all time in terms of customer outages. The storm's high and sustained winds, heavy rains, and, in some areas, tornadoes caused extensive damage across New Jersey, causing more than 1.4 million customer power outages across the state.
As of 4:00 p.m. this afternoon, approximately 42,000 Atlantic City Electric customers remain without power due to yesterday's storm. Based on the extensive damage, and the amount of work that remains ahead, Atlantic City Electric believes service for most customers will be restored by end of day Thursday, and all customers, including those in the most heavily damaged areas, will have their service restored by Saturday evening.
The company has amassed more than 1,325 personnel who are continuing to work 12-to 16-hour shifts, around the clock, to repair the extensive damage to the local energy grid and restore service for customers. This contingent of resources includes Atlantic City Electric field and support personnel, local contractors, and resources from several other companies from as far away as Florida, Ohio, Michigan and Canada. Field crews and other resources from Atlantic City Electric's sister companies ComEd and Pepco also are assisting in the restoration effort.
"Our crews, contractors, and assistance personnel have made major headway in restoring service for our customers," said Gary Stockbridge, region president of Atlantic City Electric. "We appreciate their commitment to safety and selfless work ethic as we work together to get our customers back up and running. We know it is difficult to be without electric service at any time, and we appreciate the patience and understanding of our customers as we perform this difficult and grueling work to get their power restored."
As part of the restoration effort, Atlantic City Electric and supporting field forces are addressing more than 4,400 individual outage jobs, with many of these requiring extensive work to complete. Crews are completing repairs to transmission lines serving thousands of customers and substation equipment that affects widespread areas. As these repairs are completed, we are beginning to focus more resources on addressing main distribution lines serving large numbers of customers and secondary lines serving neighborhoods.
Customers can visit atlanticcityelectric.com, use the company's mobile app, or contact the company at 1-800-833-7476 for the latest estimate of when service will be restored to their home or business. It is important for customers to understand that these estimates can, and do, change. Estimated times of restoration are based on current conditions and damage. When crews arrive on site and assess damage for a particular outage, the crew will provide an anticipated restoration time for customers in that area. The company may continue to update the estimated times of restoration as crews perform their work and understand the extent of the needed repairs. Restoration times for specific outages may change frequently.
As restoration work continues, Atlantic City Electric urges customers to take precautions for their safety; stay away from downed power lines and report them to Atlantic City Electric immediately. Check on neighbors, friends, the elderly and others who may be without service. Exercise caution when using generators to power a home and never use a generator, grill or other similar devices indoors or in an attached garage.
Readers are encouraged to visit The Source, Atlantic City Electric's online news room. For more information about Atlantic City Electric, visit atlanticcityelectric.com. Follow the company on Facebook at facebook.com/atlanticcityelectric and on Twitter at twitter.com/acelecconnect. Atlantic City Electric's mobile app is available at atlanticcityelectric.com/mobileapp.