With Dorian’s Approach, Pepco Customers Should Always Be Ready for the Worst
National Preparedness Month Brings Reminder to Prepare as Hurricane Season Peaks
WASHINGTON, D.C. (September 5, 2019) – With Hurricane Dorian making landfall in the U.S. and expected to track up the eastern seaboard through the weekend, it’s a timely reminder for communities to be prepared. Pepco is observing September as National Preparedness Month to remind customers of the importance of being ready for severe weather and other emergencies.
As part of its own preparation efforts, Pepco is working to modernize the local energy grid and harden its system against severe weather. This work includes inspecting existing infrastructure, replacing aging infrastructure, trimming trees that could potentially impact the system, building new underground equipment, and installing smart technology that can automatically restore service more quickly or isolate damage. These efforts have resulted in the most reliable service in the company’s history in recent years.
“As we see one of the first named hurricanes this season impact our neighbors to the south, while also threatening the East Coast as it moves northward, it is a reminder for all of us to prepare for extreme weather,” said Donna Cooper, Pepco region president. “Our employees work hard around the clock and year-round to strengthen the local energy grid and prepare for the worst. Their dedication is critical in helping the communities we are privileged to serve prepare for hurricane season, while also making all efforts to keep the power on for our valued customers across our region when storms hit.”
To help customers plan and prepare for an emergency, Pepco offers the following tips:
- Keep a flashlight with fresh batteries on each floor of your home.
- Identify an alternate location for you and/or your family in case of an extended outage.
- Review the manufacturer’s instructions for safe operation of your generator. Do not connect a generator directly to your home’s wiring. Never use a generator indoors or any enclosed area.
- Follow the advice of local emergency management officials.
- Stay away from any storm damaged electrical equipment, especially downed lines. You should always assume downed lines are energized. Report a downed wire immediately by calling 877-PEPCO-62 (877-737-2662).
If severe storms hit, Pepco has many online resources to keep customers informed. The company’s interactive outage map and mobile app provide customers information about outages across the company’s system and give an estimate of how quickly power is expected to be restored.
As part of the Exelon family of companies, Pepco also participates in collaborative emergency response training exercises with its sister companies—Atlantic City Electric, BGE, ComEd, PECO and Delmarva Power—and shares best practices to ensure it can provide seamless support and resources to another Exelon company during a storm or emergency restoration effort.
Launched in 2004, National Preparedness Month is sponsored by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). During the month, FEMA and DHS encourage Americans to prepare for emergencies in all facets of their lives such as promoting families to get involved with community preparedness and creating a plan including disaster costs.
To learn more, readers are encouraged to visit The Source, Pepco’s online news room. Find additional information about Pepco by visiting pepco.com. Follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/pepcoconnect and on Twitter at twitter.com/pepcoconnect. Our mobile app is available at pepco.com/mobileapp.