Dominion Restores Power to Approximately 600,000 Customers, Sets Targets for Completing Restoration Efforts

RICHMOND, Va., July 1, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Dominion Virginia Power expects to restore service by Tuesday night for 80-85 percent of customers whose power was disrupted by two days of severe storms at the end of last week. The company expects to restore service to 90-95 percent of affected customers by Thursday night, and virtually all remaining customers by Saturday night. However, it is expected that in areas of the most-severe damage, service may not be restored fully until next Sunday.

The storms last Friday and Saturday resulted in the most significant damage suffered by the company outside of hurricanes. Outages reported are now approaching 1 million of Dominion's 2.4 million electric distribution customers.

The pace of restoration work will vary by region and the extent of storm damage. In parts of Northern Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley, where the damage was catastrophic in many cases, the repairs will not be completed until the end of the restoration period. Many poles and cross arms need to be replaced, and other infrastructure needs to be rebuilt.

Help being brought in from 13 states, Canada

Power has been restored to more than half of the customers whose service was disrupted by the storms. About 900,000 customers lost service because of Friday night's storms. An additional 55,000 customers were affected by Saturday night's storms. As of 3 p.m. Sunday, service was restored to about 600,000 customers and 388,000 still were without power.

Dominion has more than 3,000 employees, contractors and retirees working to restore service. Another 1,200 utility workers from 13 states including Kansas, Texas, Wisconsin and Florida and Quebec have arrived or are on their way to assist. The company is seeking additional help, and work will continue around the clock until power is restored to all customers. Most of the outside assistance is being dedicated to the hardest-hit areas. A video update addressing key restoration questions is available at http://youtu.be/RFWLPWHCHPs.

Estimated restoration times for individual customers (ETRs) are not yet available. They will be provided once the damage assessment is complete and the focus of the work shifts to neighborhood-level restoration. An announcement will be made when individual ETRs are available.

Additional significant storm activity could push back completion of the restoration work.

Restoration challenges

"Unlike a hurricane, this storm could not be forecasted well ahead of time by the National Weather Service," said Rodney Blevins, vice president-Electric Distribution Operations. "That is complicating restoration efforts because crews and supplies could not be positioned in advance."

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Dominion Restores Power to Approximately 600,000 Customers, Sets Targets for Completing Restoration Efforts