WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 26, 2017) -The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicts 11 to 17 named storms to make landfall in the United States during the 2017 hurricane season. Pepco has taken proactive measures to help ensure safe and reliable service for customers through the Atlantic hurricane season.

Since 2012, we have invested approximately $1.4 billion in making our system more resilient and we are prepared for the 2017 storm season. We've installed and upgraded 110 miles of underground lines in D.C. and 953 miles of underground lines in the Pepco MD service territory to reduce outages and speed up restoration. In addition, we have also installed 25,603 stronger cross-arms on utility poles across Pepco (D.C. and MD) to make them more resistant to damage. 

"We have made significant efforts to prepare for an active hurricane season," said Donna Cooper, Pepco region president. "We diligently work to deliver safe and reliable service for our customers. We have 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.  Although powerful storms can cause power outages, we have proactively prepared for this year's hurricane season and encourage our customers to do the same."

We are ready:

• We installed 934 advanced switches across the District of Columbia and Maryland that automatically help limit outages to smaller areas.
• We installed more than 298,000 smart meters in the District and more than 573,000 smart meters in Maryland, enabling automated systems that provide remote outage detection.
• Began using mobile data terminals in our trucks so line workers can respond faster to problems.
• In addition to 150 internal linemen, Pepco has 250 overhead line contractors and 180 tree crew personnel. Crews from its sister utilities Atlantic City Electric and Delmarva Power are also available to assist in any restoration effort.
• 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.
• Should Pepco ever need extra assistance, the merger with Exelon allows for shared resources from other nearby companies in the Exelon family, such as Baltimore Gas & Electric and PECO in Philadelphia.

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.