The more than 2,000 people working around the clock to restore electric service in the 29 counties served by PP&L have reduced by more than one-half the number of customers without electricity.

As of 3 p.m. Saturday (9/18), about 26,000 PP&L customers remain without electricity as the result of the damage done by Hurricane Floyd when it raced through central and eastern Pennsylvania on Thursday. That number is down from the 73,000 customers who were without service at 3 p.m. Friday.

"As the result of the extraordinary efforts of PP&L employees and crews that have joined us from Pittsburgh, Ontario, Quebec and West Virginia, we are making substantial progress in returning customers to service," said Robert M. Geneczko, PP&L's vice president-Power Delivery.

Over the last 24 hours, Geneczko said, crews have made nearly 700 repairs that have restored service to more 47,000 customers.

The company now projects that most customers will have their service restored by Sunday evening although some customers may still be without electricity into Monday.

"We are doing our best to get every customer back in service as soon as possible, but some of the repairs that we need to make are in very remote locations," said Geneczko. He said a total of 450 to 500 linemen and electrical workers are now working on the task. As of mid-afternoon Saturday, crews had restored service to nearly 240,000 customers since Thursday.

Geneczko said the task ahead still is daunting. "We still have about 1,400 repairs to make to restore service to all customers," he said. Most of the repairs that remain are in the Lehigh Valley, Harrisburg and Pocono regions, Geneczko said. As damage in other areas of PP&L's service territory is repaired, crews are being sent to the hardest-hit areas.

"We know that being without electricity is a hardship and we very much appreciate our customers' understanding as we recover from one of the worst storms ever to hit our region," said Geneczko. In his wake, Floyd left more damaged equipment than PP&L ever has experienced.

For customers who do not have electricity, PP&L is providing free dry ice at many locations throughout central and eastern Pennsylvania.

PP&L crews are being aided in their work by more than 200 linemen from Duquesne Light, Pittsburgh; Ontario Hydro, Toronto; Hydro-Quebec, Montreal; and Allegheny Power, West Virginia.

In addition, PP&L meter readers, engineers and office workers are providing various support services to the crews doing the restoration work. In all, there are more than 2,000 people working on the restoration effort, Geneczko said.

He added that no PP&L lineman were sent to other areas as Floyd approached. "We anticipated the need for all our personnel; we sent no crews to other areas as Floyd came up the coast," said Geneczko.