For Immediate Release
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For Immediate Release November 13, 2003, 11:00 p.m.
Outage Update 11 p.m.Pepco's Power Restoration Efforts Underway
Pepco repair crews worked into the night Thursday to restore power to thousands of customers left in the dark by high winds that battered the Washington area since early morning. Most of the outages were caused by tree limbs blown into power lines and by fallen trees. A fire at a Pepco substation knocked power out to 6,000 customers in a southeast Washington neighborhood.
The total number of outages across Pepco`s service area peaked at 80,000 at 5 p.m. As of 6:30 p.m. the outages totaled:
Further outage updates will be available at Pepco`s Web site: www.Pepco.com. Despite the high winds, about 150 Pepco repair crews and contract crews worked through the day and evening to clear away trees and restore power. Another 60 crews were to report at midnight and continue the round-the-clock restoration effort.
Pepco strongly urges customers to make safety a priority by staying away from downed power lines. All downed lines should be treated as if they are energized and individuals should not approach them or touch them. If citizens see a downed wire or have a power outage, they should call 1-877- PEPCO-62 and report it.
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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