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For Immediate Release

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98% of Customers Back On; Pepco Reminds Customers Still Without Power To Turn Off Major Appliances to Prevent Power Surges

For Immediate Release
September 25, 2003, 10:00 p.m.

98% of Customers Back On;
Pepco Reminds Customers Still Without Power
To Turn Off Major Appliances to Prevent Power Surges

The lights are on for nearly all Pepco customers who lost power as a result of Hurricane Isabel. As of 10:00 p.m., 10,000 customers still remain without power, and Pepco will continue the restoration process at full speed until every customer is back in service. Pepco anticipates having service fully restored by the end of the day Friday.

Pepco is asking for customers` help to pinpoint the location of the remaining outages.

Customers who are still without power but see that their neighbors have power are urged to call Pepco again at 1-877-Pepco-62 to report their outage. While these customers are waiting for their power to be restored Pepco recommends they do the following:

  • Make sure that the main circuit breaker to their homes is turned on and leave one light in the "on" position so that Pepco crews can quickly identify locations where power still needs to be restored;
  • Turn all major appliances OFF to prevent a possible power surge when electricity is restored. A sudden surge could potentially result in a fire or other possible damage.

Pepco thanks customers for their cooperation.

In order to expedite the restoration process, Pepco brought in 60 additional crews from Northeast Utilities last night to add to the over 900 crews working around the clock to help rebuild Pepco`s distribution system.

Over 400 crews from 12 states, from as far west as Kansas, are participating in the effort to repair the unprecedented damage to the system left by last week`s storm. A large number of retired Pepco employees have also volunteered for the effort and are guiding visiting crews through the area.

Of customers in Pepco's service territory remaining without electricity, the break down by jurisdiction is as follows:

Area
Total Customers
Affected Customers
District of Columbia 224,000 2,000
Montgomery County 286,000 5,000
Prince George`s County 210,000 3,000
Totals 720,000 10,000

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About Pepco: For more than 100 years, Pepco has served the people of the Washington metropolitan area with clean, reliable and low-cost electricity. Pepco, a wholly owned subsidiary of Pepco Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: POM), provides electricity transmission and distribution services to more than 700,000 customers in the District of Columbia and major portions of Prince George`s and Montgomery County in Maryland.

Point of Contact:
Robert Dobkin

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