PP&L, Inc., responding to a call for assistance from a neighboring electric company, is sending about 75 linemen and support personnel to the Syracuse, N.Y., area today (9/9) to help Niagara Mohawk Power Corp. recover from a devastating Labor Day storm.

The 30 PP&L, Inc., crews represent all regions of the company's service area, said Robert M. Geneczko, PP&L, Inc., vice president for Power Delivery.They will be leaving for Syracuse early Wednesday afternoon from the Lehigh Valley, Harrisburg, Lancaster, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area, Hazleton and Williamsport.

"We are more than willing to help other utilities in times of need," Geneczko said. "This kind of mutual assistance benefits customers by enabling utilities to restore electric service as quickly as possible."

He added that PP&L, Inc., keeps enough crews at home to handle its normal expected workload. The company also has made arrangements with two neighboring utilities to provide mutual aid if another storm were to strike while PP&L, Inc., crews are out of the area.

PP&L, Inc.'s service area also was affected by Monday's storms. The company restored service to about 55,000 customers, completing its storm restoration work Tuesday afternoon (9/8).

"Our crews did an outstanding job responding to the storm on a holiday," Geneczko said. "Most customers were restored quickly, given the amount of damage the storms caused."

PP&L, Inc., crews will be working in the Syracuse area, where more than 123,000 customers are still without power after Monday's storms. Niagara Mohawk has estimated that some customers will be without power for a week or more because of the extent of damage to its power lines and equipment.

In January, PP&L, Inc., sent nearly 200 people to Niagara Mohawk's service area to help repair damage cause by one of the worst ice storms in memory. Niagara Mohawk serves 1.5 million electricity customers in upstate New York.

PP&L, Inc., provides electric delivery service to 1.2 million customers in 29 counties of eastern and central Pennsylvania.