BGE Readies Ahead of Hurricane Florence

Company ready to respond locally and provides tips for customers to prepare and stay safe

BALTIMORE (September 11, 2018) – With Hurricane Florence expected to bear down on the eastern seaboard in less than 36 hours, BGE's full emergency response organization is ready.  Employees and local contractors have inspected equipment, reviewed procedures and assembled staffing plans to ensure around-the-clock support to respond to any potential impacts from this storm.

At present, there are approximately 800 line workers and tree personnel actively engaged in storm response preparations. This includes BGE employees and BGE contractors, employees from Exelon sister utilities ComEd and PECO and lineworkers secured through mutual assistance agreements. This number is expected to change as the storm's path becomes clearer and appropriate resource adjustments are made regarding the need to request or provide mutual assistance.

BGE is also partnering with local and state emergency management offices and keeping them apprised of BGE's efforts.

Over the years, BGE has sent thousands of crews and support personnel to assist utilities, in our region and across the country, as part of mutual assistance networks. Should Florence not impact the BGE service area, company personnel and local contractors will once again be ready to answer the call if needed to support other impacted utilities. BGE most recently provided restoration assistance in Puerto Rico earlier this year and to areas of Florida and Georgia that were affected by Hurricane Irma last September.

The safety of our customers and communities is always our top priority. We encourage our customers to also prepare and also stay safe during sever weather events:

Preparation tips:

• Have flashlights with fresh batteries on each floor of your home.
• Keep a supply of bottled water and easy-to-prepare, non-perishable foods available.
• Charge cell phones and other mobile devices in advance.
• Have an updated emergency supply kit. Keep a portable radio or TV, or NOAA weather radio (with batteries) on hand to monitor weather forecasts and official information.

Safety tips:

• Stay away from downed wires and assume any downed wire or damaged electric equipment is energized.
• Do not to enter basements that are flooded, because water at certain levels can be energized.
• Stay away from any flood-covered electric equipment in neighborhoods, even if there is no electricity in the area.
• When using a personal generator, never keep it indoors or inside an attached garage. A portable generator is an internal combustion engine that exhausts a deadly gas called carbon monoxide or CO.
• Do not connect a generator directly to the home's wiring. If a generator is plugged into the electrical circuits of a home, power can back-feed onto the local energy grid and cause severe injuries.
• Identify a safe alternate location to stay in case of an extended outage. This is especially important for customers who need power for critical medical equipment.
• Monitor news and social media for the latest weather and emergency information and follow the advice of local emergency management officials.

BGE asks all customers, including those with smart meters, to report their outage. Outages may be reported online at BGE.com and via BGE's free mobile app available at the Apple Store or Google Play. Customers may also report outages and downed wires by calling 877-778-2222, on BGE.com and through mobile devices. To sign up for email and text notifications, visit BGE.com/alerts.

More information about how to prepare can be found on the "Storm Readiness" section of  bge.com.