PSE&G storm update – March 19, 2010 at 4:30p.m.

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PSE&G is working to restore electricity to the remaining 306 customers, about 290 of them in Bergen County. PSE&G expects to have them restored sometime this evening.

-- PSE&G is working to restore electricity to the remaining 306 customers, about 290 of them in Bergen County. PSE&G expects to have them restored sometime this evening.

-- Significant damage to trees, utility wiring and poles has resulted in a challenging restoration process. Depending on damage, it can take crews many hours at each work location to replace broken poles, restring electric lines and repair or replace other equipment needed to get the lights on. Workers are finding that they need to reconstruct the distribution system which takes additional time and effort.

-- Crews will continue to work non-stop, going neighborhood by neighborhood, to restore service. In addition to utility workers from AEP, Duquesne Light and UGI, we are getting assistance from First Energy, Atlantic City Electric and contractors who can help restore individual service lines.

-- With more than 458,000 total outages, the storm is the worst in PSE&G history.

-- There are also about 2,800 gas customers in Passaic and Somerset counties without service due to flooding. Gas customers will be restored in coordination with municipal inspections as the flood waters recede.

-- Customers can find information on outages, flooding and restoration at http://www.pseg.com/customer/home/safety/outage.jsp.

-- Many of the outages are caused by falling trees and limbs, which bring down power lines. Downed wires should always be considered “live.” STAY AWAY FROM ALL DOWNED LINES. Do not approach or drive over a downed line and do not touch anything that it might be in contact with. To report a downed wire, call 1-800-436-PSEG and tell PSE&G the nearest cross street.

-- To report a power outage, call PSE&G’s Customer Service line: 1-800-436-PSEG. Customers who are registered with My Account can also report power outages. To do so, Log In now or register.

-- The utility provides electric service to 2.1 million customers and gas service to 1.7 million customers.

Public Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE&G) is New Jersey’s oldest and largest regulated gas and electric delivery utility, serving nearly three-quarters of the state’s population. PSE&G is the winner of the ReliabilityOne Award for superior electric system reliability. PSE&G is a subsidiary of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (PSEG) (NYSE:PEG), a diversified energy company (www.pseg.com).

News Source : PSE&G storm update – March 19, 2010 at 4:30p.m.