Overnight, Savannah Electric made progress against the storm-related power outages in the Savannah area. From a peak of approximately 50,000 customers without power Thursday afternoon, the Company estimates between 3,000 to 4,000 customers in mainly scattered locations still did not have power as of 9 a.m. Crews continue to work this morning restoring electric service. Savannah Electric serves 125,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Brief outages may be experienced today in some areas as crews make further repairs and return the system to normal operating configurations.

The Company 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 Friday morning are asked to call the Savannah Electric Outage Hotline at 1-800-390-2834. This high-volume call system has logged over 30,000 calls since the storm began and will now help the Company to 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.

Some 50 Georgia Power employees and contractors along with their trucks and equipment arrived in Savannah last night in response to Savannah Electric requests for assistance. The Georgia Power crews are from the Athens, Rome, and Atlanta areas. Another 50 should arrive this morning.

Last week, Savannah Electric sent repair crews to North Carolina to assist with restoration efforts from Hurricane Bonnie. Those crews returned to Savannah on Saturday.

The outages began around 5 a.m. Thursday and continued throughout the day despite restoration efforts. The number of customers without power varied due to continued gusty conditions that caused damage even as repair crews restored electric service to many areas. One report indicated that wind gusts reached 54 mph during the day Thursday.

The Company and its employees appreciate the patience of its many 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 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. Based in Atlanta, Southern Company, through its Southern Energy Inc. subsidiary, supplies electricity in 10 countries on four continents. Southern Company also provides energy-related marketing, trading and technical services, and Southern LINC wireless telecommunications.