More than 140 employees from Exelon’s utility companies recently returned to the U.S. mainland after a six-week deployment to restore power and repair the power grid in Puerto Rico. In total, workers safely installed more than 225 poles, nearly 200 transformers and approximately 325,000 feet of conductor—turning the lights back on for more than 8,560 families across the island.
During their time in Puerto Rico, our employees were overwhelmed with how warmly they were welcomed, as local residents greeted them with cheers, tears, hugs and applause when power was restored. In some instances, residents brought our crews coffee, meals and helped clear debris from the road so trucks could easily gain access to the area. We made a lot of great friends along the way.
While our first wave of employees are home, a second wave of 142 restoration workers from
ACE,
BGE,
ComEd,
Delmarva,
PECO and
Pepco are now on the ground, working alongside folks from Edison Electric Institute member companies, personnel from FEMA, the Army Corps of Engineers and PREPA, Puerto Rico’s local energy company.
We are honored to be part of the restoration efforts in Puerto Rico and even more humbled to leave Puerto Rico as part of the community. Giving back and strengthening communities in need is what we stand for, who we are as a company.
The most recent statistic we saw was that electricity has been restored to 93% of all Puerto Rican customers. That’s great progress, and our crews are still working. The island is well on its way to full restoration!