Sep 19, 2003
PPL Electric Utilities Making Progress in Cleanup of Largest Storm in Company History; Customer Outreach Efforts Starting
PRNewswire-FirstCall
ALLENTOWN, Pa.
(Sept. 19, 2003, 4:30 p.m.) - An update on current power outages from Tropical Storm Isabel.
Situation: Crews, working since Thursday evening (9/18),
have restored service to more than 267,000
customers after Tropical Storm Isabel, which is
the most damaging storm in the company's
history.
The storm interrupted service to a total of
about 450,000 customers.
More than 1,000 employees are working on the
recovery effort around the clock. They will be
supplemented by about 150 line crews from other
utilities and contractors -- from as far away
as Iowa and New Hampshire -- starting Saturday
(9/20).
PPL Electric Utilities has arranged for more
than 100 local stores to provide ice and
drinking water at no charge for customers who
are expected to be without power for longer
than 24 hours. Customers can get the location
of the distribution point nearest to their home
by calling the toll-free customer service
number, 800-342-5775 (800-DIAL PPL).
Customers Restored: 267,000 as of 3:30 p.m. EDT Friday (9/19).
Customers Without Power: 188,000 as of 3:30 p.m. EDT Friday (9/19).
Number of Repairs Pending: About 3,200
Cause of Outages: Fallen trees and tree limbs because of
tropical-storm-force winds.
Est. Restoration Time: More than 50 percent of customers have had
electric service restored. We are expecting
many more to be back in service within 24
hours. But it is likely that it will be early
next week before we complete all 3,000 repairs
necessary to get all customers back in service.
Additional Information: The phone lines at PPL Electric Utilities'
customer service center have been overwhelmed
by the large volume of calls and affected by
some equipment problems, which contributed to
difficulties some customers had getting through
to the company. At one point Friday morning,
an unprecedented 61,000 customers attempted to
call the center in a 30-minute period, a number
equal to the calls typically received in a two-
week period.
We understand the frustration of customers who
have been unable to reach us. We encourage
customers to keep trying - customer outage
reports help us pinpoint the location of
problems.
PPL Electric Utilities has reassigned employees
to call customers in areas where the power is
expected to be out more than 24 hours. Those
calls will begin this evening.
Customers with special needs should call PPL
Electric Utilities' toll free number at
1-800-342-5775.
SOURCE: PPL Electric Utilities
CONTACT: George Lewis of PPL, +1-610-774-5997, or fax, +1-610-774-5281
Web site: http://www.pplweb.com/
Quick links.