WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 1, 2016) - With weather forecasts calling for an active hurricane season this year, Pepco is making preparations to help ensure safe and reliable service for its customers through the Atlantic hurricane season. 

During the last two years, Pepco spent $855 million on reliability and infrastructure improvements to make the electric system more resilient. In recent years, that work has paid off, as the record-setting winter storm Jonas in January caused only isolated outages for Pepco customers. 

"We have made significant efforts to prepare for an active hurricane season this year," said Donna Cooper, Pepco region president. "Preparation is a year-round event for Pepco. We have executed disaster drills, performed preventative maintenance and installed new technology such as automated switching systems that can quickly isolate outages and help us restore service to our valued customers if power is lost. Unfortunately, one powerful storm can cause power outages that have the potential to disrupt entire communities. While we have actively prepared for this year's hurricane season, we encourage our customers to proactively do the same." 

Pepco's overall 2016 storm readiness includes:

• Advanced metering technology that limits the amount of times it is necessary to send a truck with a crew to inspect an individual customer's service.
• 150 permanent line personnel and 250 contract line personnel on the system ready to respond to emergencies.
• Since 2010, nearly 9,900 miles of trees trimmed to enhance the reliability of Pepco's system.
• An enhanced free mobile app with interactive outage maps and more accurate restoration estimates to provide a convenient way for customers to get more information and reach us in the event of an outage. 

Pepco encourages customers to assemble an emergency kit that can be used at home and, if necessary, taken with them if they're ordered to evacuate. Each kit should include a flashlight, battery-powered clock and radio, extra batteries, non-perishable food, manual can opener, bottled water and a list of important phone numbers. All items can be placed into a large cooler which is easy to grab if a person has to leave home quickly. 

Pepco also provides a "Weathering the Storm Fact Sheet" that can be downloaded from its website ( www.pepco.com). Find additional information by visiting  www.pepco.com. Follow us on Facebook at  www.facebook.com/pepcoconnect and on Twitter at  www.twitter.com/pepcoconnect. Our mobile app is available at  www.pepco.com/mobileapp.