Delmarva Power has restored electric service for more than 115,000 customers impacted by Tropical Storm Isaias. Despite the extensive damage from high winds, heavy rains, and, in some areas, tornadoes, Delmarva Power continues to make significant progress restoring customers, with nearly 95 percent of customers restored since the beginning of the storm yesterday.
As of 4:00 p.m. this evening, approximately 8,000 Delmarva Power customers remain without power due to yesterday’s storm. Based on the extensive damage, and the amount of work that remains ahead, Delmarva Power believes service for most customers will be restored by end of day Thursday, and all customers, including those in the most heavily damaged areas, will have their service restored by Friday evening. While the storm caused damage and outages across the company’s service area, the majority of remaining outages are located in New Castle County, Del.
The company has amassed more than 800 personnel who are continuing to work 12-to 16-hour shifts, around the clock, to repair the extensive damage to the local energy grid and restore service for customers. This contingent of resources includes Delmarva Power field and support personnel, local contractors, and resources from several other companies from as far away as Florida, Georgia, Minnesota and Texas. Delmarva Power is also getting support from its sister Exelon company ComEd in Chicago, as well as contractor crews from Pepco in Washington, DC.
“Our crews, contractors, and assistance personnel have made major headway in restoring service for our customers,” said Gary Stockbridge, Delmarva Power region president. “We appreciate their commitment to safety and selfless work ethic as we work together to get our customers back up and running. We know it is difficult to be without electric service at any time, and we appreciate the patience and understanding of our customers as we perform this difficult and grueling work to get their power restored.”
As part of the restoration effort, Delmarva Power and supporting field forces are addressing more than 700 individual outage jobs, with many of these requiring extensive work to complete. Crews have repaired and restored nine transmission lines and three substations as part of the restoration effort. With repairs complete for transmission lines serving thousands of customers and substation equipment that affects widespread areas, the company is focusing most resources on addressing main distribution lines serving large numbers of customers and secondary lines serving neighborhoods. In some areas, sections of the local energy grid have needed to be completely rebuilt in order to restore service.
Customers can visit delmarva.com, use the company’s mobile app, or contact the company at 800-898-8042 for the latest estimate of when service will be restored to their home or business. It is important for customers to understand that these estimates can, and do, change. Estimated times of restoration are based on current conditions and damage. When crews arrive on site and assess damage for a particular outage, the crew will provide an anticipated restoration time for customers in that area. The company may continue to update the estimated times of restoration as crews perform their work and understand the extent of the needed repairs. Restoration times for specific outages may change frequently.
As restoration work continues, Delmarva Power urges customers to take precautions for their safety; stay away from downed power lines and report them to Delmarva Power immediately. Check on neighbors, friends, the elderly and others who may be without service. Exercise caution when using generators to power a home and never use a generator, grill or other similar devices indoors or in an attached garage.