Dominion Turns the Lights Back
on for More Than Half of Customers
Affected by Hurricane Isabel
RICHMOND, Va. - Dominion has turned the lights back on for
more than half of the 1.8 million customers left in the dark by Hurricane Isabel,
the most destructive storm in the company’s 100-year history.
As of 7 p.m. Sunday, Dominion line crews, contractors and
crews from 11 assisting utilities have restored service to more than 972,000
customers in northeastern North Carolina and Virginia. About 900,000 remain
without power.
Based on continuing damage assessments, Dominion announced
the following estimated restoration schedule that will be updated on a regular
basis:
Service Area
Customers Assigned
Customers Restored
(as of 9/21/03, 6 p.m.)*
Customers Without Lights
(as of 9/21/03, 6 p.m.)
Expected Restoration for 75 percent of customers without lights (except where noted)
Northern Virginia
724,816
447,855
70,117
By Sunday, Sept. 21
Shenandoah Valley/Western Piedmont
164,395
77,882
15,955
Finished in the Valley; Western Piedmont, including Charlottesville,
completed by Thursday, Sept. 25
Richmond/Tri-Cities
442,598
121,441
302,885
By Thursday, Sept. 25
Southside Virginia
66,133
33,313
20,096
By Thursday, Sept. 25
Gloucester/Northern Neck
54,454
13,236
43,110
By Thursday, Sept. 25
Tidewater
654,549
223,193
395,840
By Thursday, Sept. 25
North Carolina
115,880
55,635
52,374
Outer Banks completed by Tuesday, Sept. 23; 75 percent
of rest of N.C. locations by Sunday, Sept. 28
*Dominion serves 2.2 million electric franchise customers;
1.8 million were affected by Isabel.
All hospitals that lost power because of the hurricane have
been restored. Crews restored power to 30 primary water-pumping stations in
the 30,000-square mile service area. The company is continuing to work with
municipalities to identify other public infrastructure – such as schools
– which need power.
Dominion Sunday continued to add to its assembled workforce.
What was an army of 7,000 line crews, tree trimmers and support on Wednesday,
the day before the storm, is now 9,700 strong. The crews are focusing on restoring
service to the remaining transmission and primary distribution circuits that
were damaged by Hurricane Isabel, mostly by uprooted trees or blown limbs.
“The task remains Herculean, but in less than three
days we’ve restored power to more than half of the customers who had their
lights turned out by Isabel,” said Jimmy D. Staton, senior vice president-Operations.
“That’s more restored customers than affected by our last two major
events, the Super Bowl freezing rain storm in 2000 and Hurricane Floyd in 1999.
“We would like to thank our customers for their patience.
We know they want their lights on and we sincerely want to make that happen,
but the damage to our system is unprecedented.”
The widespread damage included:
62 of the company’s 380 transmission lines –
1,600 miles of high-voltage power lines. Crews restored 41 of them by Sunday,
with the last 21 lines due back in service early this week. Transmission service
to those substations that supply power to electric cooperatives was expected
to be restored fully by Sunday.
About 1,150 of the company’s 1,600 primary distribution circuits –
72 percent. These power lines deliver electricity to lower voltage circuits
that go to homes and businesses. Primary circuits are the first circuits restored
after storms. Primary circuits must be repaired, inspected and reconnected
to the grid before homes and businesses can be served.
2,311 broken utility poles.
3,899 snapped crossarms.
7,363 spans of downed power lines.
Dominion’s customer service centers in Norfolk, Richmond
and Akron, Ohio, answered about 810,000 calls from customers since Hurricane
Isabel arrived Thursday. Most of the calls were handled by the company’s
computerized voice response unit, which is the quickest way to report an outage.
The company is also using this system to call customers back with information
about service restoration. The company also has about 500 operators taking calls.
Dominion remains concerned about customer safety, especially
from downed power lines and improper use of generators. 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.
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.
