Electric News Releases

February 1, 2000
8 p.m. EST

Virginia Power Restores Service to More Than 250,000

RICHMOND, Va. -- Virginia Power line crews continue working around-the-clock to restore power to the remaining 16,500 customers whose electricity was interrupted during the Super Bowl Sunday ice storm.

An army of 2,500 linemen, tree trimmers, contractors and other personnel are moving from location to location throughout the Richmond region and, as of Tuesday evening, have restored power to more than a quarter million customers.

"Our line crews will be out in full force until all customers are reconnected," said Tom Hyman, senior vice president-Electric Distribution. "Our job's not done until everyone has power."

The storm caused damage to more than 3,700 locations in the greater Richmond area. The company line crews currently traveling throughout Richmond are working on those remaining repair locations.

"We have completed restoration to the large circuits which each serve several thousand people," Hyman said. "We're concentrating our restoration efforts on tap lines which serve smaller customer groups or neighborhoods."

The company's goal is always to restore power to the greatest number of customers in the shortest amount of time, he said. As a result, the company anticipates that a few remaining locations which serve smaller amounts of customers will be reconnected Wednesday.

"We thank our customers for their patience," Hyman said.

Customers can report outages or downed lines by calling, toll-free, 1-888-667-3000.

Virginia Power is the principal subsidiary of Dominion Resources Inc. (NYSE: D), an energy company with headquarters in Richmond.

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