Richmond, Va., January 27, 2011 — Dominion Virginia Power crews are working hard to restore electric service to the Northern Virginia customers affected by a winter storm.

Dominion expects to restore power to at least 90 percent of the affected customers by tomorrow night, with the remaining work continuing overnight into Saturday until all customers have been restored.

"We have about 2,000 workers engaged in our restoration effort, including crews from Eastern and Central Virginia and North Carolina assisting in Northern Virginia," said Rodney Blevins, vice president of electric distribution operations. More than 300 bucket trucks are working in Northern Virginia.   

Repairs are taking place while detailed damage assessments are being made. Heavy, sticky snow that was twice as wet as typical snow brought tree limbs and trees into contact with electrical lines and caused extremely difficult driving conditions for repair crews. About 192,000 customers were affected by the storm.

An estimated completion time will be available Friday morning for each of the remaining repairs.

Travel in Northern Virginia remains hazardous and Dominion's restoration efforts have been hampered by abandoned vehicles. More than 2,200 Virginia Department of Transportation trucks worked overnight clearing roads of snow and downed trees and assisting stranded motorists. Dominion is working closely with VDOT to resolve access issues.

The highest priority for power restoration is always given to public safety and emergency situations such as hospitals, emergency 911 call centers, and municipal water pumping stations.