RICHMOND, Va., Aug. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Dominion Virginia Power continues to restore power to customers who lost service Thursday afternoon and evening because of a line of severe thunderstorms, near-hurricane force winds and heavy rains that crossed much of Virginia.

"We are restoring service to our customers as safely and as quickly as possible," said Rodney Blevins, vice president of distributions operations for Dominion Virginia Power. "The severity and widespread nature of the storms presents many challenges, but our employees are dedicated to this task."

By 3 p.m. Friday, repairs had been completed for 190,000 of about 220,000 Dominion customers who lost electrical service at some point during the storms. Estimates for when power will be back on will be available by 4 p.m. to customers who call 1-866-DOM-HELP (1-866-366-4357).

All available Dominion personnel are focused on outage work, and neighboring utilities and contractors are providing additional help. The company expects that some outage restoration work will continue into the weekend.

Storm restoration information is available online at http://www.dom.com/storm-center/index.jsp. A video describing Dominion's storm response organization and operation center is available online at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S51-6cW7uCE.

Dominion offers customers these tips to help ensure safety and speed the restoration process:

• Call Dominion at 1-866-DOM-HELP (1-866-366-4357) to report an outage. Do not rely on neighbors to report your outage.  Also call Dominion if you suspect any damage to your electric meter or lines coming to your home or business even if the power is still on.

• When reporting your outage, whether via phone or online, enter the phone number where you can best be reached in case Dominion needs to contact you for more information or to provide an update.

• Leave one light on so you will know when power is restored.

• Stay away from fallen wires and debris.  Treat all fallen wires as if they are energized.

• Follow safe operating procedures for generators. Never operate one inside your home, in crawl spaces 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 the proper-sized extension cords directly into the generator.

Dominion Virginia Power is a subsidiary of Dominion (NYSE: D), one of the nation's largest producers and transporters of energy, with a portfolio of more than 27,600 megawatts of generation. Dominion operates the nation's largest natural gas storage system and serves retail energy customers in 12 states. For more information about Dominion, visit the company's website at www.dom.com.

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SOURCE Dominion Virginia Power