News Releases

PPL Electric Utilities crews continued to work extended hours in difficult and dangerous conditions to restore power to people in the Harrisburg area Monday (12/17) as hundreds of reinforcements from utilities in neighboring states headed to the region to help restoration efforts.

Despite the ice, wind and cold, crews have restored power to more than 100,000 customers in a day and a half throughout the company’s 29-county service territory.

“We know how difficult this is for customers, especially at this time of year, and we truly appreciate the patience that everyone has shown as we continue to fight ice, wind and a significant number of traffic accidents knocking down our poles and wires,” said John Fogarty, vice president of Distribution Operations for PPL Electric Utilities.

“This storm dealt a devastating blow to our electric delivery system in Harrisburg. Our crews and support personnel are persevering with a mammoth restoration effort. We won’t rest until everyone has their power back.”

As of 4:30 p.m. Monday, more than 25,000 customers were without power in the Harrisburg area, but power had been restored to more than 37,000 customers in and around the state capital.

Most of those 25,000 customers should have their power back by tomorrow, Fogarty said, but he estimated that it will take until Wednesday evening to return power to all customers who were affected by the ice storm. The storm resulted in more than 1,525 cases of damaged lines or equipment in the Harrisburg area alone.

Fogarty said more than 200 crews from utilities in neighboring states will begin arriving tonight. In addition, PPL Electric Utilities is shifting resources from other areas of its service territory to Harrisburg as those crews complete restoration efforts in their home areas.

“We’ve had crews completing jobs only to have trees, limbs and vehicles knock out power on the same lines soon after those jobs are completed,” Fogarty said.

In Hershey, for example, crews yesterday restored service to customers who had lost power due to ice and wind. Early Monday morning, a vehicle crashed into a tower holding a major transmission line serving Hershey. The accident knocked out power again to more than 4,800 customers. More than 40 workers rebuilt the tower and restored service to Hershey customers by 5 p.m. Monday.

Fogarty said the company worked with local emergency management agencies and the Red Cross to establish shelters in the Harrisburg region. Shelters are currently open at the following locations:
 
In Cumberland County:

• Silver Spring Presbyterian Church, 444 Silver Spring Road, Mechanicsburg

In Dauphin County:

• First Alliance Church, 403 South Progress Avenue, Harrisburg

In Perry County:

• Penn Township Municipal Building, 100 Municipal Building Road, Duncannon

The company is also offering free ice and water to customers affected by the outage. For a complete list of store locations, click here.