Most to be Back by Midnight Friday; Remaining Over the Weekend

Pepco crews worked today to restore service to about 100,000 customers, and said it expects to have power back by midnight Friday to about 95 percent of the customers who lost power during Wednesday's series of severe thunderstorms. Round-the-clock efforts will continue through the weekend until the remaining customers have lights.

Utility crews from Delmarva Power and Atlantic City Electric joined in the recovery with additional crews expected to arrive Friday from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and North Carolina.

As of 4:30 p.m. today, 44,000 customers remained out with the bulk of the remaining outages in Montgomery County with about 21,500 customers, Prince George's County with some 13,000 customers and the District of Columbia with about 9,300 customers.

When the system is damaged by severe weather, Pepco applies priorities that take into account public safety, community needs and the basic infrastructure of the electric system. Crews work first to address potentially life-threatening situations such as downed wires and public health and safety facilities without power. Pepco then works downstream, beginning with any problems on the transmission lines or large distribution lines, then restores power in a sequence that gets service to the greatest number of customers as quickly and safely as possible.

Safety

Until power is restored, here are tips to keep you safe, protect your food, home and belongings:

• Pepco strongly encourages customers to make safety a priority. Stay 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.
• To report downed wires and outages, customers are asked to call 1-877-PEPCO-62 (1-877-737-2662).
• Keep away from flooded areas and stay indoors. If you experience a power outage, check for electrical damage inside your home, such as frayed wires, sparks or the smell of burning insulation. If you find damage, don't turn your power on until an electrician inspects your system and makes necessary repairs. Remember, electricity and water is a dangerous combination. Even wading in a shallow puddle or flooded basement that is exposed to an energized line could lead to harmful electrical contact.
  
  

Protecting Your Food

• Keep freezer and refrigerator doors closed; open them only when absolutely necessary. Food will stay frozen for 36 - 48 hours in a fully loaded freezer if you keep the door closed.
• A half-full freezer will generally keep food frozen for 24 hours.

Protecting Your Home and Belongings if Your Power is Out

• Turn off all appliances, including your furnace, air conditioner, water heater, and water pump. That way, you can avoid a circuit overload and another outage that may result when power is restored to all appliances at once.
• Leave on one lamp so you will know that the power has been restored.

For more safety and emergency preparedness tips, log onto the Pepco Storm Center, www.pepco.com.

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Pepco, a subsidiary of Pepco Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: POM), delivers safe, reliable and affordable electric service to more than 750,000 customers in Maryland and the District of Columbia.