Electric utilities in the Southeast United States have had to deal with outages for days as a result of Hurricanes Charley, Frances and Ivan. Thousands of customers have lost power as workers raced to restore energy by working around the clock. In turn, even normal operations have lagged behind for some utilities.

PECO Crews Work to Keep Lights On After Flooding

While the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., region was spared the full force of hurricane Ivan, last week's severe rain and flooding have caused widespread damage across the region--especially in towns along the Delaware River. To ensure public safety in damaged areas, PECO had shut off electric and natural gas service to about 1000 customers in the New Hope, Upper Makefield and Yardley areas.

More than 100 PECO field employees and support personnel are working around-the-clock in affected neighborhoods, at the Company's Emergency Response Center in Plymouth Meeting, and at two local command centers. Command centers have been set up at Upper Makefield Fire House and New Hope Fire House.

The flooding has threatened or damaged numerous local substations including PECO's Morgan substation along the Delaware River Canal in Yardley Borough, portions of which are currently under 2 feet of water. To help ensure electric service, PECO has brought in portable equipment including generators and transformers to supply electricity to customers served by damaged substations.

After floodwaters recede, PECO will be able to fully assess damage, make any necessary repairs, and return the energy delivery system to normal.

Progress Energy Carolinas Restores Power to More Than 75,000 Customers Who Lost Service During Ivan

Progress Energy Carolina crews continue to restore power to customers in Western North Carolina. The company has restored electric service to more than 75,000 customers who lost power when the remnants of Hurricane Ivan struck Western North Carolina on Thursday and Friday. As of 4 p.m. Sunday, 20,800 Progress Energy Carolinas customers remained without power, down from a peak of 96,000 at 6 a.m. Friday.

"We know the last few days have been very difficult for our customers, and we appreciate their patience in dealing with the second devastating storm in two weeks," said Robert Sipes, vice president of Progress Energy's Western Region. "This storm caused more damage to our system than the blizzard of 1993 and each of the 10 counties we serve in Western North Carolina was impacted. We have deployed resources to each and every area to help get the power on and help customers get their lives back to normal as quickly as possible."

Progress Energy expects to have all customers capable of receiving power restored by midnight Tuesday.

Tampa Electric Normal Operations Behind

When Hurricanes Charley and Frances came through Tampa Electric's service territory, collectively causing outages for nearly 350,000 Tampa Electric customers, the single focus of every man and woman at the company was on restoration.

During a major restoration, every person at Tampa Electric in Tampa, Florida, U.S., not directly involved with line repair or tree trimming is temporarily reassigned to support restoration. These individuals include meter readers. As a result of this restoration reassignment, the company estimates that up to 120,000 of its 620,000 customers could receive an estimated bill in the coming weeks.

When a meter can not be read, the company uses an estimate, based on the average of the last 12 months' actual usage. If there is a difference between the estimate and the actual use, positive or negative, it will be adjusted for on the following bill.

In addition, there are likely to be some delays associated with street light repairs. Repairs could take longer than the general three-day timeframe.

Vice President-Energy Delivery & Customer Service Tom Hernandez said, "We want our customers to know that we are working extended hours to work through our backlogs and return all service levels to normal as quickly as possible. We thank them for their patience."