ATLANTA, Feb. 16, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Georgia Power has successfully completed restoring electric service to 99 percent of affected customers throughout the state following one of the most severe ice and snow storms to reach the state in the last decade. In the Metro Atlanta area, nearly all customers have had service restored and, in the storm-battered Augusta area, less than 900 customers remained without service as of Sunday morning. One of the hardest hit parts of the state, Augusta and surrounding communities experienced more than 200,000 outages over the course of the storm.

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The severe weather, which began impacting service to Georgia Power customers around 12:15 a.m. on Wednesday, caused approximately 701,000 state-wide outages over the multi-day duration of the storm. At the height of restoration efforts, the company had a total of 8,000 employees, contractors and personnel on loan from other utilities spread across the state working 24 hours a day to restore power for customers.                                       

"Our men and women have faced one of the most disruptive storms in our history - we're extremely proud of their tireless efforts to get service restored to customers as soon as possible," said Paul Bowers, president and CEO of Georgia Power. "We want to thank our customers for their patience as we have worked around the clock to remove hundreds of fallen trees and branches, and repair lines damaged by ice and snow."

As of 8:30 a.m. Sunday morning, around 300 active outages remained statewide. Personnel will remain in the field until all customers that can take service are back online.

About Georgia Power
Georgia Power is the largest subsidiary of Southern Company (NYSE: SO), one of the nation's largest generators of electricity. Value, Reliability, Customer Service and Stewardship are the cornerstones of the company's promise to 2.4 million customers in all but four of Georgia's 159 counties. Committed to delivering clean, safe, reliable and affordable energy at rates below the national average, Georgia Power maintains a diverse, innovative generation mix that includes nuclear, 21st century coal and natural gas, as well as renewables such as solar, hydroelectric and wind. Consistently recognized as a leader in customer service, Georgia Power was recently ranked highest in overall business customer satisfaction among large utilities in the South by J.D. Power and Associates. For more information, visit www.GeorgiaPower.com and connect with the company on Facebook (Facebook.com/GeorgiaPower) and Twitter (Twitter.com/GeorgiaPower).

SOURCE Georgia Power