PECO Customers Reminded to Plan Ahead During National Preparedness Month

PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 05, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — National Preparedness Month comes as the first major hurricane of the season made landfall in the U.S. this week, and the peak of Atlantic hurricane season is quickly approaching. The current weather patterns serve as a timely reminder for customers to be prepared for severe weather and other emergencies.

“The safety of our customers, communities, and employees is always our top priority,” said John McDonald, PECO senior vice president and COO. “We work throughout the year to ensure our employees and systems are ready for any extreme weather that may occur. Hurricane Dorian is a timely reminder for all of us that being prepared is a responsibility everyone should take seriously.”

To help customers plan and prepare for an emergency, PECO offers the following tips:

  • Stay far away from any storm damaged electrical equipment, especially downed wires. You should always assume downed wires are energized. Report a downed wire immediately by calling PECO at 1-800-841-4141.
  • Keep a flashlight with fresh batteries on each floor of your home.
  • Identify an alternate location for you and/or your family in case of an extended outage.
  • Customers who rely on electricity to keep medicine refrigerated or medical equipment running should develop a plan to maintain health requirements during a power outage.
  • Review the manufacturer’s instructions for safe operation of your generator. Do not connect a generator directly to your home’s wiring. Never use a generator indoors or in any enclosed area.
  • Follow the advice of local emergency management officials.

If severe storms hit, PECO has many online resources to keep customers informed. PECO customers can visit peco.com/alerts to sign up to receive messages via text, email or phone, when power is out in their area, when power is restored, or when the estimated restoration time for their outage changes. Customers can report their outage through PECO’s two-way texting program by texting “ADDOUTAGE” to MYPECO (697326). Customers can enroll in the program, report outages and check the status of their outage through text messaging. To use this service a customer’s mobile number must be registered with their account. The company’s interactive outage map also provides customers with information about outages and can provide an estimate on when power is expected to be restored.

As part of the Exelon family of companies, PECO also participates in collaborative emergency response training exercises with its sister companies—Atlantic City Electric, BGE, ComEd, Delmarva and Pepco—and shares best practices to ensure it can provide seamless support and resources to another Exelon company during a storm or emergency restoration effort.

Launched in 2004, National Preparedness Month is sponsored by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). During the month, FEMA and DHS encourage Americans to prepare for emergencies in all facets of their lives.

PECO, founded in 1881, is Pennsylvania’s largest electric and natural gas utility. Headquartered in Philadelphia, PECO delivers energy to more than 1.6 million electric customers and more than 523,000 natural gas customers in southeastern Pennsylvania. The company’s 2,700 employees are dedicated to the safe and reliable delivery of electricity and natural gas as well as enhanced energy management conservation, environmental stewardship and community assistance. In 2018, PECO was named to Forbes Magazine’s list of Best Employers for Women. The company also has an estimated annual economic impact of $4.8 billion in Pennsylvania, supporting more than 9,000 local jobs and producing $775 million in labor income. PECO is a subsidiary of Exelon Corporation (NYSE: EXC), the nation’s only Fortune 100 utility and leading competitive energy provider. For more information visit PECO.com, and connect with the company on Facebook and Twitter.