The second major snow storm of the week – which dumped nearly 2 feet of wet heavy snow on the region, created major road closures, brought whipping wind gusts, and wreaked havoc across the area – damaged electrical equipment and created massive power outages for PECO customers well into the early morning hours on Thursday, long after the snow stopped falling. As of 4 a.m. about 106,000 customers are without service across Southeastern Pennsylvania. Specifically:

• Bucks: 47,000
• Chester: 7,000
• Delaware: 17,000
• Montgomery: 25,000
• Philadelphia: 10,000

Although crews have restored service to more than 101,000 customers since the beginning of the storm, more power interruptions are likely because of the amount of heavy, wet snow on area trees and power lines.

With a halt of all daily business, all of PECO’s employees are fully focused on response efforts. More than 450 employees at a time, working 12 to 16 hour shifts, have been focused on preparing and responding to these epic conditions since early Wednesday morning. The company’s entire Emergency Response Organization, including field and back office personnel will work around-the-clock until service is restored to all customers.

Travel to job sites and access to damaged equipment continues to be severely hampered by weather conditions. Because of this, and the extent of damage, PECO expects its Emergency Response Organization to remain activated and employees to work through Monday to restore service to all customers.