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Project to improve electric service reliability for about 45,000 customers

PHILADELPHIA (May 20, 2014) – PECO is investing $3.5 million in vegetation management along 318 miles of aerial electric lines to improve electric service reliability for about 45,000 customers in northeastern Delaware County and southwestern Montgomery County. Work began in late April and will be completed by the end of December.

Specifically, tree pruning will be performed in Haverford, Lower Merion, Marple, Newtown, Springfield and Upper Darby townships and Lansdowne Borough.

"Vegetation growth causes about one-third of all electric outages," said Alex Brown, PECO manager of Vegetation Management. "Preventive pruning around aerial power lines is vital to safely keeping the lights on for our customers."

In 2014, PECO will invest about $35 million in vegetation management work around approximately 2,400 miles of aerial power lines along the PECO electric distribution and transmission system.

PECO's vegetation management crews are trained in arboricultural pruning techniques as defined in the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) A300 Standard. This standard takes into account the type and location of the tree, its relation to overhead equipment and overall health of the tree. PECO notifies property owners prior to work beginning in each community. Customers in areas where line clearance work is completed experience fewer outages and a significant improvement in electric service reliability. 

Customers with questions should call 1-800-311-6345, ext. 915 for more information or visitwww.peco.com and click on the Trees and Powerlines link under the Customer Service / Service Request tab on the home page.

PECO invests millions of dollars annually to improve the electric system infrastructure, including performing preventive maintenance and upgrading equipment. These ongoing system enhancement projects contributed to the company's record-breaking electric and natural gas reliability performance in 2013 with customers experiencing the fewest number of outages in the company's history, surpassing previous records set in 2012.

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Based in Philadelphia, PECO is an electric and natural gas utility subsidiary of Exelon Corporation (NYSE: EXC).  PECO serves 1.6 million electric and more than 500,000 natural gas customers in southeastern Pennsylvania and employs about 2,400 people in the region.  PECO delivered 85.7 billion cubic feet of natural gas and 37.8 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity in 2013.  Founded in 1881, PECO is one of the Greater Philadelphia Region's most active corporate citizens, providing leadership, volunteer and financial support to numerous arts and culture, education, environmental, economic development and community programs and organizations.

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