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U.S. UTILITIES SAY "THANKS" TO ONTARIO HYDRO SERVICES CREWS FOR STORM RESTORATION ASSISTANCE

U.S. utilities expressed their appreciation today for work done by Ontario Hydro Services Company (OHSC) crews in restoring power following severe damage inflicted by Hurricane Floyd.

OHSC sent about 180 staff and 80 vehicles from across southwestern, central and mid-northern Ontario to Poughkeepsie, New York and eastern Pennsylvania last Friday September 17.

"We are very appreciative of the help we received from OHSC," said Robert M. Geneczko, Pennsylvania Power & Light (PP&L) Vice President, Power Delivery. "The line crews and supervisors were an outstanding group and the quality of their work was top-notch."

OHSC crews were an important part of the recovery team after one of the most damaging storms in company history, a PP&L representative said. PP&L distributes electricity to 1.3 million customers in a 26,000 square-kilometre service area of eastern and central Pennsylvania.

Hurricane Floyd left more than 350,000 PP&L customers without electricity, and required crews to make more than 3,500 separate repairs to power lines, poles and equipment. PP&L said that with the valuable support of OHSC crews, the company was able to restore service to all customers within four days.

In Pennsylvania, OHSC crews worked mainly in the Harrisburg, Lancaster and Bloomsburg areas, and in the Pocono Mountain region — an area hit particularly hard.

OHSC crews were also assisting Central Hudson Gas & Electric in the New York communities of Poughkeepsie, Fishkill, Newburgh and Kingston.

"Not only were we appreciative of the support provided by the OHSC crews, but we were also impressed by their work ethic and obvious commitment to customer service," said Carl E. Meyer, President and Chief Operating Officer of Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corporation. "In retrospect, we recognize how truly fortunate we were to have had their assistance in the daunting task of restoring service to 80,000 of our customers. Simply put, we could not have restored service to 95 per cent of those customers within three days without the dedication of the personnel who assisted us from OHSC."

"We are very proud of our crews, and pleased they were able to help out our neighbours," explained Ron Stewart, OHSC Chief Operating Officer. "We also appreciate our neighbours’ compliments on our crews’ high standards of professionalism, safety and customer service."

OHSC is a growth company in the transmission, distribution and energy services businesses. Through its subsidiaries, OHSC owns approximately 29,000 kilometres of high voltage transmission lines and 114,700 kilometres of low voltage distribution lines. Its distribution system serves about 950,000 retail customers, 38 large industrial customers and about 190 municipal utilities. OHSC employs about 6,000 people at its facilities and offices throughout Ontario. It is a successor company to Ontario Hydro, and officially began operation as an independent entity in April 1999.

For more information contact OHSC Media Relations 1-877-506-7584.

(Reporters from communities that sent crews who wish to interview returning local OHSC staff should call this number for arrangements. Photos are available through CP Photo Network.)

Pennsylvania Power & Light

George Lewis
610-774-5910