Pepco crews in Maryland have worked through the night to restore power after a powerful thunderstorm hit the area Sunday afternoon. As of noon today, power had been restored to nearly 106,000 customers. A power supply to the WSSC Potomac Plant in Potomac, Maryland has been restored as well as electric service to Shady Grove Hospital.

Pepco is bringing in crews from outside its service territory to aid in restoring the electric system that has been heavily damaged by trees and strong winds. Pepco crews continue to assess the damage caused by yesterday’s powerful thunderstorm.

All feeders will have to be patrolled prior to any attempt to re-engage power. The damage assessment is essential in guiding the restoration effort. The assessments are providing information on areas of significant work. This restoration effort will take several days. Pepco advises any customers who have special needs, such as special medical equipment, to invoke their emergency plans.

The restoration process is as follows:

1) Life Threatening Emergencies / Assist Fire/Police

2) Transmission & Sub-Transmission Events - Typically restores several thousands of customers.

3) Distribution Feeder Lockouts - Typically restores 800-2,000 each.

4) Vicinity & Grouped Outages - Typically restores several dozen to a hundred customers.

5) Individual Outages - One or two restorations each.