RICHMOND, Va. - Dominion has restored service to about 800,000
customers in Virginia and northeastern North Carolina who were left without
electricity by Hurricane Isabel.
A total of 1.8 million customers – 80 percent of those
served by the company – lost electricity as the storm moved through Dominion’s
service area with strong winds and torrential rain.
As of 9:30 p.m. Saturday, about 1 million customers remained
without power. The company has mobilized a workforce of more than 8,000 to deal
with the damage left by the hurricane, the worst storm in Dominion’s 100-year
history.
Dominion made substantial progress Saturday in its efforts
to repair circuits serving public health and safety facilities. Dominion had
restored electricity to 30 critical water-pumping stations in Virginia and northeastern
North Carolina. Repair crews had also restored power to 26 hospitals in Dominion’s
service area. Restoration work continued at three hospitals still without power.
With many public health and safety facilities back in operation,
workers have begun focusing on primary delivery circuits to restore service
to homes and businesses. In many cases, however, the distribution system was
severely damaged by the storm, particularly by falling trees, and major repairs
are necessary. Damage was especially severe in central and eastern Virginia
and in coastal North Carolina.
“In some cases, our distribution facilities must be
rebuilt, not just repaired. The damage in many instances is catastrophic. Our
lines were literally smashed by trees and falling limbs,” said Jimmy D.
Staton, senior vice president-Operations. “Our aerial assessments have
confirmed just how devastating this hurricane was.
“We are committed to getting the lights back on, but
this task will be extremely difficult and even dangerous. The repair crews have
done great work. But it’s obvious this effort will be complicated and
time-consuming. It will require many days.”
Workers from utilities as far away as Oklahoma and Tennessee
are assisting Dominion. Workers from other utilities continue to arrive to help
in the repair effort.
Outages from Hurricane Isabel eclipsed those from other severe
storms that have moved through Dominion’s service area. In 1996, Hurricane
Fran disrupted service to approximately 1.1 million customers. In 1999, Hurricane
Floyd cut power to about 700,000 customers. The service restoration in the wake
of Hurricane Floyd required 10 days; so far, Dominion has restored service in
three days to more customers than the total affected during the 1999 storm.
Dominion remains concerned about customer safety. Customers
are warned to avoid downed power lines and the improper use of generators. Improperly
installed, generators can cause carbon monoxide poisoning or backfeed into distribution
circuits and injure line crews. Downed power lines should be reported by calling
the company at 1-888-667-3000.
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.
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Editors and Reporters: Dynamic outage information
is available on-line. To determine the number of power outages in your media
market, visit www.dom.com,
see the Hurricane Isabel logo and click on “Outage
Map” or “Outage
Summary.” This information is refreshed automatically every 15 minutes.
