RICHMOND, Va., Sept. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- More than 750 employees and contractors mobilized and headed south to Florida early this morning in support of a massive restoration effort after Hurricane Irma left more than seven million homes and businesses without power.

"We wish our friends and colleagues a safe journey and restoration effort," said Ed Baine, senior vice president, power delivery, Dominion Energy. "Their first stop will be at the staging and processing center in Florida to receive safety instructions, orientation and assignments from the impacted utilities. From there, we expect our people to be fully engaged along with tens of thousands of others from around North America helping in the recovery from one of the worst natural disasters our country has seen."

"We also appreciate our team members who remain behind to keep the home front safe and the lights on for customers here," Baine said. "We are committed to ensuring reliability here while we support the restoration efforts in Florida."

Customers are facing the possibility of weeks without power. Employees and contractors are expected to remain in Florida for at least two weeks, working alongside an army of workers from other utilities across the United States and Canada to restore power as quickly and safely as possible.

Watch a video here to watch one lineman as he prepared for his journey and here to watch a team of employees heading out to join the convoy of restoration workers.

About Dominion Energy

Dominion Energy (NYSE:D) is one of the nation's largest producers and transporters of energy, with a portfolio of approximately 25,700 megawatts of generation, 15,000 miles of natural gas transmission, gathering and storage pipeline, and 6,600 miles of electric transmission lines. Dominion Energy operates one of the nation's largest natural gas storage systems with 1 trillion cubic feet of storage capacity and serves more than 6 million utility and retail energy customers. For more information about Dominion Energy, visit the company's website at www.DominionEnergy.com.

SOURCE Dominion Energy