PECO preparing for round two of power outages

PECO crews have almost finished restoring power from the heavy rains and strong winds that blew through our region Tuesday night, but now another storm is bearing down on the region, and more outages could come overnight Friday.

The utility’s Madison Davis said PECO crews have been working constantly since the storms knocked out power for thousands of customers.

“On Tuesday night, we saw that heavy rain and strong winds come through the territory. The storm impacted approximately 230,000 customers. And right now, we’re looking at about 1,900 customers without service,” Davis said.

With another storm on the way, Davis said they are taking precautions with the potential for more outages tonight.

“We were able to bring in more than 1,300 field personnel to help us with restoration. So those field crews worked alongside our PECO crews and in preparation for the weather we’re expecting tonight. We are keeping on those crews and have enhanced staffing in place to be prepared in the event of outages caused by tonight’s weather.”

Davis adds that if you are in an outage-prone area, you need to prepare for the possibility of another night without electricity.

“Storm damages electrical equipment, tears down power lines and tree limbs,” she said. “If power lines are knocked to the ground, people should “stay away and don’t come into contact. We’re expecting some possible flooding again because the ground is just so saturated. So, a reminder not to enter basements that are flooded.”

“The water, if it gets to a certain level, it could be energized,” she said.

If you are still without electricity and have yet to notify the utility, now is a good time to do so either by going online or using the PECO app.