Dominion Virginia Power Restores Service To More Than 760,000 Customers; On Track To Meet First Storm Restoration Goal

- Effort involves 16,000-plus damage locations

- Crews working amid catastrophic damage to restore service to remaining customers

- 5,000 workers, 900 bucket trucks now dedicated to effort

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Jul 02, 2012, 06:02 ET

RICHMOND, Va., July 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Power has been restored to more than 760,000 of the 1 million Dominion Virginia Power customers whose electric service was affected by a weekend of severe storms. That is equal to 76 percent of the total affected by the extreme weather, which caused the most significant damage suffered by the company outside of hurricanes.

On Sunday, Dominion set a target of restoring service to 80-85 percent of affected customers by the end of the day tomorrow. The company expects to restore service to 90-95 percent of affected customers by Thursday night, and virtually all remaining customers by Saturday night. However, in areas of the most-severe damage, service may not be restored fully until Sunday.

"We understand how challenging the situation can be for our customers without power, and we thank them for their patience," said Rodney Blevins, vice president of distribution operations. "We are continuing to work diligently around the clock until power is restored to all customers."

The pace of restoration work varies by region and the extent of storm damage. In parts of Northern Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley, where the damage was catastrophic in many cases, the repairs will be completed this coming weekend. As work wraps up in other regions, crews will be reassigned to help in the hardest-hit locations.

Dominion now has more than 3,500 employees, contractors and retirees working to restore service. Another 1,500 utility workers from 15 states and Canada have arrived or are on their way to assist, and additional help is being sought. See a video showing crews arriving and joining the effort here: http://youtu.be/BneTNSfueBM. Crews have finished repairs at more than 7,600 of the 16,000-plus individual work locations caused by the storms.

Please stay away from downed lines and anything touching them – assume they are energized, and report them by calling 1-866-DOM-HELP (1-866-366-4357) – and please stay away from areas where linemen are at work.

Dominion is one of the nation's largest producers and transporters of energy, with a portfolio of approximately 27,500 megawatts of generation. Dominion operates the nation's largest natural gas storage system and serves retail energy customers in 15 states. For more information about Dominion, visit the company's Web site at www.dom.com.

Follow us on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/DomVAPower. 'Like' us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/dominionvirginiapower .

SOURCE Dominion Virginia Power