In the cleanup following one of the worst storms in recent history for Pennsylvania Power & Light Co., electric service has been restored to more than 114,000 customers.

Swiftly moving, severe thunderstorms Saturday (8/16) afternoon and night caused widespread damage to power lines in PP&L's 10,000-square-mile service area.

"High winds, uprooted trees, falling tree limbs and lightning strikes combined to break poles and wires and damage transformers," said Robert Geneczko, PP&L's vice president-Power Delivery. "There were about 1,100 individual locations where repairs had to be made."

The storms affected a widespread area in Pennsylvania and neighboring states, limiting the number of additional line crew personnel PP&L could call on from other utilities to assist in restoring power.

"We were able to hire line crews from electrical contractors and get additional help from Niagara Mohawk Power Corp.," Geneczko said. "Unfortunately, because of the severity and widespread nature of the storm damage, we were not able to repair all of it quickly.

"We appreciate the patience and understanding of all of our customers who had to wait an extended period of time for the lights to come back on, and we apologize for the inconvenience."

PP&L is reviewing its efforts to see what improvements can be made in responding to future incidents of this magnitude, he added.