Electric News Releases - 1999

September 18, 1999

Virginia Power Crews Restore Sevice To 120 Thousand Customers Over A 24-Hour Period

RICHMOND, Va. – Virginia Power crews worked through the night Friday to restore service to 120 thousand customers over a 24-hour period. The customers had lost their electricity after Hurricane Floyd swept through the state on Sept. 16.

As of 4 p.m. Saturday, 70 thousand customers were still without power in the Virginia Power service territory. Of those, about 19 thousand were in North Carolina, where Virginia Power does business as North Carolina Power.

"We are going to continue working around the clock until we get all of our customers back on line," said Tom Hyman, vice president and general manager-Distribution. "I want to thank them for their patience with our efforts. I also want to thank the Virginia Department of Transportation, which has gone the extra mile to clean roadways so our trucks can get through, and the Virginia National Guard, which has made helicopters and personnel available to us to help locate trouble spots."

Efforts to restore service to customers in the company's North Carolina service area continue to be hampered by flooding and high water. Four substations in northeast North Carolina are still out of service.

Virginia Power has mobilized a workforce of more than 5,600 to deal with Floyd's damage. Contractors and utility crews from as far away as Ohio and Kentucky have been called in to assist the restoration effort.

The company says most customers in Central and Eastern Virginia should have their lights back on by Monday. Customers in some parts of eastern Virginia will have their service restored after the water recedes.

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

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