Riding on a solid record of service reliability, PECO's 1.6 million customers in southeastern Pennsylvania will benefit from more than $215 million invested in about 200 local reliability projects this year.

Ongoing, comprehensive maintenance and infrastructure investments are the most effective way for PECO to reduce the number and the duration of service interruptions for customers. System investments have resulted in PECO's best-ever reliability record during the last three years. For example, PECO has decreased the duration of outages system-wide for all customers for three years in a row, with nearly a 10% decrease in the length of outages last year. The shorter outage duration results from the increased deployment of technology on distribution circuits, better tools for dispatching field forces and improved response time by field personnel. Additionally, customers, on average, experienced only one interruption last year, placing the company in the top 25% of utilities nationwide.

"Our customers count on us to keep the lights on and the natural gas flowing, no matter if it's 90 degrees or 9 degrees outside," said Denis O'Brien, PECO president. "That is a responsibility that we take very seriously. These investments enable us to keep those promises and deliver quality service to our customers."

During 2006, more than $53 million is allocated for about 30 projects to expand distribution capacity to meet growing communities in areas throughout the PECO service territory, including New Britain in Bucks County; Upper Uwchlan in Chester County; Lower Salford, Montgomery Township, Perkiomen and Skippack in Montgomery County; and Lower Chanceford and Peach Bottom in York County.

An additional $24 million will be spent on reliability improvement efforts including work on more than 100 local distribution circuits plus cable, pole and transformer replacements, including the Byberry section of Philadelphia and Chinatown; Buckingham in Bucks County; Coatesville in Chester County; Middletown in Delaware County; and Jenkintown in Montgomery County.

Strategic preventive maintenance and close system monitoring also will provide enhanced reliability for customers. More than $100 million is allocated for preventive maintenance work such as visual and infrared patrols along distribution circuits and inspection of underground manholes and substations. An additional $20 million will fund tree trimming and other vegetation clearance work along aerial distribution lines in communities around Chestnut Hill and portions of South Philadelphia; East Vincent, Phoenixville and Westtown in Chester County; Springfield in Delaware County; Conshohocken, Lower Merion, Narberth, Upper Dublin and Whitemarsh in Montgomery County.

PECO also is investing more than $15 million in natural gas main replacement projects and installing a new natural gas gate station in Skippack to increase the system's capacity. Areas that will see improvements include Bensalem in Bucks County; East Coventry and West Chester in Chester County; Swarthmore in Delaware County; Cheltenham and Wyndmoor in Montgomery County.

Finally, the company is expanding its use of technology with substation automation, reclosers, sectionalizers and similar advanced electronic circuit switches, which help pinpoint problems and remotely restore service to customers, reducing the length of power outages when they do occur. More lightning arrestors and animal guards also will be deployed to prevent a large number of weather- and animal-related outages.