A Gulf Power storm restoration team of 65 employees began work in the Upper Marlboro, Md., area Sunday, helping Pepco Energy Services restore power in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene.

Upper Marlboro is located about 20 miles east of Washington, D.C. and is near Andrews Air Force Base.

As of 7:30 a.m. Sunday, Pepco reported that 194,000 customers were without power, down from 220,000 outages at the height of the storm. Along the Eastern seaboard, 4 million people were without power following the storm.

Gulf Power sent 48 line personnel and 17 support staff members. They are among 800 out-of-state utility workers helping Pepco, which delivers power to nearly 1.9 million customers in Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland and New Jersey, making it one of the largest electricity delivery companies in the Mid-Atlantic region.

“Our crews are prepared to restore power for up to two weeks,” said Jeff Rogers of Gulf Power. “It is a mutual effort that utilities help out other utilities in time of need.”

Gulf Power Company is an investor-owned electric utility with all of its common stock owned by Atlanta-based Southern Company. Gulf Power serves more than 430,000 customers in eight counties throughout Northwest Florida. The company’s mission is to safely deliver affordable, reliable and environmentally responsible electric service to our customers while working to improve the communities we serve. Visit online at GulfPower.com or on the company’s Facebook page, “Gulf Power Company.”