Severe Weather Knocks Out Power to About 35,000 Customers

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Pepco crews will work around the clock to restore power to customers who lost power as severe thunderstorms moved through the service area Tuesday evening. The storms - which brought high winds, lightning and intense rain - knocked out service to about 35,000 customers in the District of Columbia and Montgomery and Prince George's counties in Maryland.

The storm left one substation out of service and 17 feeder lines out; crews have already restored power to the substation. As the crews assess the type and intensity of the damage, we will develop a global estimated time of restoration (ETR), which we will share Wednesday. We expect to have most customers restored by Wednesday evening but do not expect restoration to be completed until possibly as late as overnight Wednesday. We will be able to refine that estimate after we finish our damage assessments. Crews will continue to work around the clock as quickly and safely as possible to restore power to each and every customer. We have about 150 internal linemen and more than 400 contractors already working on our system who are available as needed.

Crews being able to ping smart meters to confirm whether customers are still actually out of service will help speed restoration and avoid unnecessary visits to verify service.

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/mobileapp. 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.