WASHINGTON - The winter holiday season is here and many people are stringing electric lights to decorate their homes and businesses. To safely celebrate the season, Pepco offers the following tips:

• Inspect electrical decorations before using them and replace any that are damaged.
• When decorating outside, make certain you, and any objects you may be carrying, such as a ladder, do not come into contact with power lines. Carry ladders and other equipment parallel to the ground.
• Use only non-combustible or flame-resistant tree decorations.
• If using a live or cut tree, water the tree daily and remember to keep it away from fireplaces and other heat sources. Heated rooms dry trees out quickly, creating fire hazards.
• Look for and eliminate potential danger spots near candles, fireplaces, trees and/or electrical connections.
• Never use more than three standard-size sets of lights per single extension cord.
• Indoors or outside, use only lights that have been tested for safety by nationally recognized laboratories such as Underwriters Laboratory (UL).
• Never use electric lights on a metallic tree.
• To avoid injuries, be sure to follow directions carefully when using artificial snow sprays.
• Turn off all electrical decorations before going to bed or when leaving your house or business.
• Consider replacing traditional holiday lighting with light-emitting diode (LED) lights. LEDs generate little or no heat, can last up to 10 times longer and use less energy.

For more information about staying safe around electricity, visit 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.