Delmarva Power is making its final push to restore service for customers affected by the devastating impacts of Tropical Storm Isaias. Delmarva Power has restored electric service for more than 127,500 customers, which is more than 99 percent of customers affected by the storm.
As of 3:00 p.m. today, fewer than 600 Delmarva Power customers remain without power due to Tropical Storm Isaias. These customers are located within the most heavily damaged areas, primarily in New Castle County, Del. Despite ongoing thunderstorms in the region, Delmarva Power believes it is on track to restore service for most customers affected by Tropical Storm Isaias by the end of day today, and all customers affected by the storm, including those in the most heavily damaged areas, by Friday evening. Many customers who may currently have estimated times of restoration on Friday, could have their power restored this evening.
As part of the restoration effort, Delmarva Power and supporting field forces are addressing more than 200 individual outage jobs, with many of these requiring extensive work to complete. Crews have completed most repairs for main distribution lines serving large numbers of customers. Crews are now focusing on restoring secondary lines serving neighborhoods and service lines to individual homes and businesses. These jobs impact only small numbers of customers. The extensive damage makes restoring service to remaining customers especially complex. The work is extremely labor intensive and very time consuming. Damaged and downed trees must be removed before repairs can be completed; broken poles must be replaced. Crews will continue working until the last customer is restored.
The company has amassed more than 1,250 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 companies ComEd in Chicago and BGE in Baltimore, as well as contractor crews from Pepco in Washington, DC.
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.
Thunderstorms and heavy rains in the region are causing additional scattered outages. The company is prepared to respond to additional outages from this weather and will maintain enhanced staffing across the region. Crews will prioritize restoring customers affected by Tropical Storm Isaias first, except to address life-threatening, safety and health situations or support service restoration for hospitals, nursing homes and other critical facilities.
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.