RICHMOND, Va. - Dominion Virginia Power utility crews restored
electrical service to about 600,000 customers within the first 24 hours after
Hurricane Isabel ravaged the company's service area. A total of 1.8 million
customers lost power because of the devastating storm.
As of 1 p.m. Saturday, about 1.2 million customers remained
without power.
By noon, Dominion had restored power to 29 of 40 critical
water-pumping stations across Virginia and northeastern North Carolina, with
the remaining 11 expected to be energized by Sunday evening. Utility crews also
have restored power to 25 hospitals in Dominion's service area.
With many of the public health and safety facilities in operation,
crews began turning their attention to primary delivery circuits to turn the
lights back on in homes and businesses.
Dominion's initial workforce of 7,000 has grown by about
1,000 as more crews from other utilities begin arriving in the hurricane-ravaged
area.
"The damage to our system is simply unbelievable,"
said Jimmy D. Staton, senior vice president-Operations, who saw gigantic
trees that Isabel had uprooted and tossed into power lines during a helicopter
tour Saturday.
"Our crews remain committed to getting the lights back
on, but this effort will take many days. So far, we have restored service to
about as many customers that were out from Hurricane Floyd in 1999, and that
took us 10 days. Our line crews plus those who have come to our aid have done
great work, and we've got lots of work ahead of us."
Dominion remains concerned about customer safety, especially
from downed power lines and improper use of generators.
There have been many reports of carbon monoxide poisoning
because customers have not ventilated the generators properly.
Company officials note that unless installed professionally,
generators should not be connected to the whole house electrical service.
Improperly installed, the electricity could backfeed onto Dominion's power
lines and injure line crews.
Report downed power lines by calling 1-888-667-3000.
Some customers earlier today experienced difficulties and
delays in reaching our call center because of telephone service interruptions.
If callers continue to hear a message indicating that all circuits are busy,
they should keep trying.
Dominion is one of the nation's largest producers of energy,
with a diversified and integrated energy portfolio that includes 24,000 megawatts
of generation and 6.3 trillion cubic feet equivalent of proved natural gas reserves.
Dominion also serves 5 million retail energy customers in nine states. For more
information about Dominion, including dynamic updates on power restoration,
visit the company's Web site at www.dom.com.
