By Tess Stynes
Exelon Corp.'s (EXC) Philadelphia-based PECO electric and
natural-gas utility said roughly 443,000 customers in its southern
Pennsylvania service remained without power early Thursday morning
in the aftermath of a severe ice and snow storm.
Winter-weary residents of the Northeast received another dose of
snow, sleet and freezing rain Wednesday, with the second storm of
the week canceling classes, closing government and business
offices, and causing power outages across the region.
PECO said the Wednesday storm knocked out power to about 650,000
of its customers, making it the second-worst storm for the utility,
coming in behind only superstorm Sandy, which interrupted service
for 850,000 of its customers.
The utility expects service will be restored to most of its
customers by Friday night, though customers in more heavily damaged
areas will be without power through Sunday.
The company said more than 3,500 PECO employees, contractors and
workers from out-of-state utilities--PECO's Chicago-based sister
utility ComEd--were working around the clock in an effort to
restore power.
PECO serves 1.6 million electric and 497,000 natural gas
customers in southeastern Pennsylvania.
Exelon is set to report its fourth-quarter financial results
later Thursday.
Write to Tess Stynes at tess.stynes@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires