PP&L, Inc., line crews are working to restore power to about 18,000 customers, most of them in the Lehigh Valley, who lost electric service because of Friday's (11/14) wintery weather.

Nearly 16,000 of the customers without power as of 6:30 p.m. are in the Allentown and Bethlehem areas, where freezing rain and drizzle left a coating of ice on tree branches and power lines.

"Ice buildup causes a lot of problems with our electrical equipment," explained Robert M. Geneczko, vice president of Power Delivery for PP&L.

"The ice adds extra weight to tree limbs, causing them to fall across power lines, creating outages."

He said PP&L has held over line repair crews in the Allentown and Bethlehem areas to work through the evening, and is moving crews from areas that have had less storm damage — including the Poconos, Schuylkill County and Lancaster County — to help restore power in the Lehigh Valley.

PP&L crews also are dealing with scattered outages caused by the weather in other parts of its 29-county service area in eastern and central Pennsylvania.

PP&L is bringing extra help into its Customer Contact Center tonight to answer calls from customers without power and provide as much information as possible on when service will be restored. Customers should call PP&L's toll-free number, 1-800-342-5775 (1-800 DIAL PPL) to report problems.

PP&L reminds customers who are participating in Pennsylvania's pilot customer choice program to call PP&L for power outages, no matter which company they have selected as an energy supplier.

"We have people assessing the extent of the damage caused by the ice storm, and our crews are working to repair damaged lines and equipment as quickly as possible," Geneczko said. "We will work around the clock until everyone's power is restored."

He said if people see wires on the ground, they should stay away from them, even if they appear to be "dead." They should report downed wires immediately by calling PP&L's toll-free number.