Sandy Considered Worst Storm in PECO History

PECO released an update earlier today stating that the widespead damage of Hurricane Sandy along the East Coast caused power interruptions to more than 850,000 PECO Customers -more than any other storm in company history - and expects the recovery effort to take up to one week.

The company has restored service to more than 350,000 customers as of Tuesday afternoon, with more than 3,000 employees and contractors working around the clock.

As of 2 p.m. on Tuesday, 490,000 customers are without power - 145,000 of them are from Montgomery County.

In the North Penn region, about 16,000 customers are without power, out of 28,900 customers, according to the most recent PECO outage map.

Local governmental officials have said that PECO crews are working with emergency services to clear up the issues and restore power as quickly as possible

Here is the outage breakdown in the North Penn region:

Hatfield Township — 1,501 to 3,500 affected, out of 2,500 served

Lansdale Borough — 51 to 500 affected, out of 100 served

Montgomery Township — Greater than 3,500 affected, out of 10,500 served

North Wales Borough — 501 to 1,500 affected, out of 1,500 served

Towamencin Township — Greater than 3,500 affected, out of 7,300 served

Upper Gwynedd Township — Greater than 3,500 affected, out of 7,000 served

PECO included tips for customers without power in the update:

PECO urges customers to stay safe!  Stay away from downed wires, damaged electric equipment and tree limbs or branches contacting electrical equipment. Always assume PECO’s equipment is energized – even if there is an outage in your neighborhood. Report these dangerous conditions to PECO immediately.

Customers experiencing a power outage are reminded to:
• Contact the company at 1-800-841-4141. The more customers who call to report an outage, the more effectively PECO can dispatch crews and restore service.

• Turn off and unplug appliances and other devices to prevent possible damage. Remember to keep one light on so you will know when service has been restored.

• Customers with generators should never connect them directly to home wiring or plug them into household outlets. Generators connected to home wiring can ‘backfeed” into PECO’s electric delivery system, risking serious injury or death to PECO crews. Generators should always be placed outside to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning.