Sep 20, 2003
Isabel Update, Sept. 20, 12:30 p.m.: Recovery Will Require More Than 4,000 Repair Jobs
PRNewswire
ALLENTOWN, Pa.
An update on the progress of restoring electricity to customers affected by Isabel.
Situation: Additional line crews from utilities and contractors have joined the effort to restore electric service to customers of PPL Electric Utilities. Since daybreak Saturday (9/20), service has been restored to about 35,000 more customers, bringing the total number of customers restored since Isabel hit Thursday night (9/18) to about 390,000. As of 11 a.m. Saturday, 97,000 PPL Electric Utilities' customers are without power. Isabel has affected close to 490,000 customers of PPL Electric Utilities. With outage reports from customers continuing to come in Saturday, the number of repair jobs required to repair Isabel's damage is estimated at 4,000 -- an increase of more than 33 percent from yesterday. In areas with extensive damage to the electric delivery system that will take more than a day to repair or rebuild, PPL Electric Utilities has made thousands of phone calls to customers to keep them informed and assess any special needs they may have. Customers Restored: 390,000 as of 11 a.m. EDT Saturday (9/20) Customers Without Power: 97,000 as of 11 a.m. EDT Saturday (9/20) Affected Areas: The entire 29-county service area of PPL Electric Utilities in eastern and central Pennsylvania has been affected. Number of Repairs Pending: 3,100. Additional outage calls from customers has increased the total number of repairs required to more than 4,000. Cause of Outages: Fallen trees and tree limbs. Est. Restoration Time: With the progress crews are making, PPL Electric Utilities expects to restore the majority of customers currently without service by late Sunday. It will take until early next week to get every customer back in service. Additional Information: Outage figures are updated continuously on PPL's news media Web site: www.pplnewsroom.com. The Web site also lists contact information for each part of the company's service area. Customers should call PPL Electric Utilities' toll free number, 800-342-5775 (800-DIAL PPL) to report outages, fallen wires or special needs. Additional customer service representatives are on duty Saturday (9/20) to help. Because so many of the outages are the result of fallen trees and tree limbs, in some places wires are on the ground. People should stay far away from fallen wires, even if they appear to be "dead." Call PPL Electric Utilities or 911 immediately. Situations that threaten public safety and health receive high priority in scheduling line crews. People who are without power can help the restoration effort by turning off or unplugging lights and appliances they don't immediately need when the power comes back on. It is easier to re-energize power lines that have been out of service if electricity use is minimal.
During storm emergencies, reporters can view updated PPL Electric Utilities storm information by visiting our news Web site at www.pplnewsroom.com. The StormOutage feature provides system-wide and regional information.
SOURCE: PPL Electric Utilities
CONTACT: George Lewis of PPL Corporation, +1-610-774-5997, fax,
+1-610-774-5281
Web site: http://www.pplweb.com/
http://www.pplnewsroom.com/
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