More than 90 Percent of Customers Restored

WASHINGTON - Pepco continues to make significant progress restoring power to customers who lost service in the wake of Hurricane Irene. Restoring power to schools has been a high priority. I n less than 48 hours after the storm exited the region, power has been restored to all public schools in Montgomery County, Prince Georges County and the District of Columbia.

At the height of the storm, Irene's gale-force winds took out power to more than 50 schools in Montgomery County, approximately 10 schools in the District and more than 60 schools in Prince George's County.

Damage to the electrical infrastructure caused by Hurricane Irene was extensive. Fourteen hundred line-restoration personnel, including hundreds of out-of-state crews from as far away as Texas, continue to be strategically mobilized. Pepco's damage assessment and restoration fleets have been in the field non-stop since the storm abated on Sunday, and they will continue to work around the clock until power is restored to every customer.

Pepco expects to restore service to all of its customers impacted by the hurricane by Thursday evening. However, most of the remaining customers without power will have their service restored before that time.

"While Thursday evening is the estimated time that we expect to restore power to all customers impacted by the hurricane, we have restored power to all schools in Montgomery County, Prince Georges County and the District of Columbia," said Thomas H. Graham, President, Pepco Region. "W e know that school officials are eager to keep schools on schedule and we are very glad we were able to do our part to make this happen ."

The company continues to execute its planned restoration strategy, which first targets major pieces of electrical equipment that serve large numbers of customers. As restoration has progressed, crews have turned their attention to equipment that serves more local areas and are finding many old and very large trees that have fallen and damaged neighborhood equipment. The extensive amount of destruction associated with these local outages makes repairing the remaining 10 percent of affected customers especially challenging and can take more time to complete the work.

As restoration work progresses, customers may receive up to two new, more targeted estimated times for restoration (ETR). Any change in ETRs will reflect an improvement in time.

Customers Asked to Request a Call Back

Customers are urged to report outages at pepco.com or by calling 1-877-PEPCO-62 (1-877-737-2662). Customers' reports are vital to Pepco's restoration efforts because, combined with other customer calls and Pepco's technology, it helps the company identify the precise location of outages more quickly. Pepco also recommends that when reporting an outage that customers request a call back to confirm that their power has been restored.

If reporting an emergency or another life-threatening situation such as downed wires, customers also should call 1-877-PEPCO-62 (1-877-737-2662) and follow the prompts.

To keep up-to-date, customers are encouraged to visit the Pepco website frequently at www.pepco.com and review the outage map, follow us at www.twitter.com/PepcoConnect and listen to local radio stations for updates.

Pepco Emphasizes Importance of Safety

Safety is paramount for Pepco's customers and employees. The company urges the public to stay alert, as conditions remain hazardous. It is critical to stay clear of downed wires and report them by calling 1-877-PEPCO-62 (1-877-737-2662) and following the voice prompts. Other important safety recommendations include:

• If you use life-support equipment that requires electricity to operate and you have lost power, Pepco urges you to seek alternative accommodations at a location with emergency power capabilities as restoration will be a multi-day event.
• If you are using a portable generator, follow the manufacturer's instructions and use only when necessary. Don't overload it and be sure to turn it off at night, while you sleep and when you are away from home.
• Locate a portable generator in a well-ventilated area. Never run it inside, even in your garage, to avoid the potential hazard of carbon monoxide poisoning. Do not connect the generator directly into your home's main fuse box or circuit panel.
• Protect food and refrigerated medicine with regular ice in an insulated cooler. Foods will stay frozen for 36 to 48 hours in a fully loaded freezer if the door remains closed.

A full list of safety tips can be found on the Pepco website ( 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 778,000 customers in Maryland and the District of Columbia.