Duquesne Light Finishing Power Restoration Efforts
Related to Catastrophic April 29 Weather Event
Customers returned to service after company’s unprecedented response to storm
PITTSBURGH — Duquesne Light Company (DLC) has restored power to customers in Beaver and Allegheny counties who lost service as a result of the devastating storm that swept across the region on April 29.
At peak outage, about 325,000 DLC customers lost power due to the weather event, or more than half of the company’s customer base. After shifting to an “all hands on deck” posture with its own staff as the storm approached and calling in more than 600 contractors from outside the region – hundreds more than ever before – immediately afterward, the company has returned service to those customers.
This does not mean that the storm recovery process is over. Some customers have been temporarily connected to the electrical grid, and further repairs must be done. Work to clear vegetation, repair the grid and restore customers who lost power in subsequent weather events will be ongoing as the company remains in “storm mode” through at least the end of the week.
A small number of customers – fewer than 100 – remain out of service. All of these customers have been directly contacted by DLC and there are clear plans in place to return them to service, including jobs with unique circumstances.DLC’s commitment to our customers and our community remains as strong as ever, even in challenging times like these. We will continue to explore opportunities to strengthen our network and improve reliability for our customers now and into the future, while also maintaining careful consideration of the cost of these investments to our customers.