Washington, D.C. - Pepco is closely monitoring potential severe storm activity, which could produce strong damaging wind gusts, large hail and frequent lightning during the Fourth of July holiday week.

Weather summaries call for a cold front slowly passing through Wednesday and Thursday with the best chance of storms possible late Wednesday morning into the afternoon.

We have about 150 internal linemen and more than 450 contractors already working on our system who are available if needed. We will work around the clock as quickly and safely as possible to restore any outages that may occur.

Safety is our No. 1 priority. We urge our customers to stay clear of working crews and any wires hanging loose from poles or lying on the ground. Customers should always assume that downed wires are energized and avoid them.

Customers can report outages by calling 1- 877-PEPCO62, visiting pepco.com or through our mobile app, available for download at pepco.com/mobile app. It is important that customers report their outages and request a call back to verify their power has been restored.

Customers need to be prepared for the possibility of service interruptions and should check their emergency supply kits. Tips on preparing for a storm can be found on our website, pepco.com. The storm center at pepco.com highlights important information for customers through all stages of the restoration effort and allows them to easily report and track outages.

The Pepco website also has the ability to work in concert with Pepco's Mobile App 2.0. The new version of the mobile app provides customers with access to My Account, storm preparation and restoration information and Pepco social media, available for download at pepco.com/mobileapp.

It should be noted that restoration cannot begin until it is safe for crews to perform work.  When winds approach 35 mph, work from bucket trucks is suspended until it is safe for crews to continue.