MAYS LANDING – With summer just around the corner, Atlantic City Electric has been hard at work, prepping its systems, and testing its processes and procedures, all part of the company’s efforts to provide safe and reliable service for its 550,000 customers this summer.
“We work all year long to keep the lights on for our customers, and our work to prepare for the summer is no different,” said Susan Coan, Atlantic City Electric region vice president. “As we take steps to prepare, so should our customers. Just a few small steps can help keep everyone safe and ready.”
Atlantic City Electric’s work to prepare for the summer is part of more than $312 million the company spends each year to maintain and modernize the local energy grid. Atlantic City Electric completes hundreds of tasks to prepare for the summer season, including system work, testing and drills. Atlantic City Electric employees across the region also are ready to respond to severe summer storms or emergencies, if needed. And, as part of the Exelon family of companies, Atlantic City Electric can call on resources from sister utilities in Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois Maryland and Philadelphia to restore power faster after major storms.
As Atlantic City Electric prepares for summer, customers should prepare too. Before severe weather hits, customers should:
- Have a supply of bottled water and easy-to-prepare, non-perishable foods available.
- Charge cell phones and mobile devices.
- Have a flashlight with fresh batteries on each floor of your home.
- Visit atlanticcityelectric.com/mobileapp and download our mobile app to report outages or other service issues and stay up to date should summer storms cause a service interruption to your home or business.
If severe storms hit, Atlantic City Electric has many online resources to keep customers informed. The company’s interactive outage map, available at atlanticcityelectric.com and its mobile app provide customers information about outages across the company’s system and give an estimate of how quickly power is expected to be restored.
Higher temperatures can lead to higher energy bills, and Atlantic City Electric provides a variety of programs to help every customer save money and energy. Customers can learn more about these programs at www.atlanticcityelectric.com/waystosave.
In addition, customers can save energy and lower their bills this summer by following a few simple tips:
- Turn it off: Turn off all unnecessary lighting and devices.
- Manage your thermostat: Keep thermostats at a constant, comfortable level when at home. Raise the thermostat setting for days of extreme heat to save even more. Install a programmable thermostat to automatically adjust your home’s temperature settings when you’re away or sleeping.
- Keep shades, blinds and curtains closed: About 40 percent of unwanted heat comes through windows. Simply closing blinds and curtains, which act as a layer of insulation, can reduce heat in your home.
- Use ceiling fans to circulate air: For those without air conditioning, use ceiling fans or portable fans with the windows partially open to circulate fresh air into your home. For those with air conditioning, fans can be used to evenly distribute cool air.
- Use appliances wisely: Run appliances that produce heat (like clothes dryers, ovens and dishwashers) at night when it is cooler.
By taking a few simple steps, together we can be ready, stay safe, stay cool, and use less energy this summer.
