RICHMOND, Va., June 14, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Dominion Virginia Power crews are repairing damage to return electrical service to more than 283,000 customers affected by a severe windstorm Thursday evening.

As of noon today, crews had restored power to more than 70 percent of the customers affected by the storm. Work will continue around the clock until power has been restored to all customers and will involve crews from electric utilities in other states.

Restoration is expected to be completed today in northern Virginia and by Saturday night in nearly all other areas. Work will continue into Sunday for the locations most heavily affected by the high sustained winds and hurricane-force gusts of up to 80 miles per hour. Those areas include parts of Southside Virginia, Chesterfield, Petersburg, York County and James City County. Restoration time estimates for individual customers are expected to be available tomorrow morning.

"We are focused on the safety of the public and our crews as we work to restore power as quickly as possible," said Rodney Blevins, vice president of electric distribution operations. "Please stay away from downed lines and anything touching them – assume they are energized, and report them to us.

"We also ask that you help protect our linemen when you see them on the roadside making emergency repairs by moving over from the lane nearest the workers or by slowing down until you pass the site of the repairs."

Customers can report and check the status of power outages when using the company's website at www.dom.com via smartphone, other mobile device or computer. You will need the account number or 10-digit phone number listed on the account, and the last four digits of your Social Security number, federal tax identification number or PIN. Another way to report an outage is by calling the automated phone system at 1-866-DOM-HELP (1-866-366-4357).

Follow safe operating procedures for electric generators. Never operate one inside your home or in an enclosed space, such as a garage. Do not connect portable generators directly to the electrical system of your home. Electricity could flow backward onto Dominion's power lines and endanger lives. Either have a qualified electrician perform the work or plug appliances directly into the generator using the proper-sized extension cords. Exhaust fumes contain carbon monoxide and can be deadly, so run your generator outside with proper ventilation. Store the fuel for your generator safely.

The highest priority for power restoration is always given to public safety and emergency facilities such as hospitals, emergency 911 call centers, and municipal water pumping stations. A video description of the storm restoration process is available online at http://www.dom.com/storm-center/how-we-restore-power.jsp.

Dominion Virginia Power is a unit of Dominion (NYSE: D), one of the nation's largest producers and transporters of energy. Dominion has a portfolio of approximately 27,000 megawatts of generation. It also operates one of the nation's largest underground natural gas storage systems and serves retail energy customers in 15 states. For more information about Dominion, visit the company's website at www.dom.com.

SOURCE Dominion Virginia Power