Savannah Electric continues to make progress against the storm-related power outages in its service area. The Company estimates about 8,000 customers are without power as of 5:00 p.m. down from a peak of approximately 32,000 Tuesday afternoon.

Crews continue to work in many scattered locations in order to restore power as quickly and safely as possible. Savannah Electric serves 125,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Brief outages may still be experienced in the coming hours in some areas as crews make further repairs and return the system to normal operating configurations or due to additional storms in the area.

A number of Georgia Power employees and local contractors along with their trucks and equipment will aid in restoration efforts overnight in response to Savannah Electric requests for assistance. The Georgia Power crews are from the Statesboro and Brunswick areas.

The outages began Tuesday morning and continued throughout the day despite restoration efforts. The number of customers without power varied due to continued stormy conditions that caused damage even as repair crews restored electric service to many areas.

Savannah Electric reminds all customers to stay away from downed power lines and to notify police or Savannah Electric if electric lines are down in your area. Children and pets should be kept far from any hanging or downed lines and customers should avoid clearing debris that may contain power lines. These wires could be live or could become energized although they appear dead.

Customers still without power this evening are asked to call the Savannah Electric Outage Hotline at 1-800-390-2834. So that the Company can pinpoint remaining, isolated problem areas, it is also helpful for customers to leave a porch light switched on even if they do not currently have power. This enables storm crews in the field to quickly assess restoration efforts and remaining problems as service is restored. It is suggested that larger equipment that may come on automatically, such as air conditioners, be switched off and turned on individually after power is restored.

The Company and its employees appreciate the patience of its customers and will continue working until all service is restored as quickly and safely as possible.

Savannah Electric serves a five-county area of Southeast Georgia including all or parts of Chatham, Effingham, Bulloch, Bryan, and Screven. Savannah Electric is a subsidiary of Southern Company. Southern Company (NYSE: SO), the largest producer of electricity in the United States, is the parent firm of Alabama Power, Georgia Power, Gulf Power, Mississippi Power and Savannah Electric and is based in Atlanta.