PECO Warns of Debit Card Scam

Customers purchase pre-paid debit cards that are then drained by fraudsters, the company said.

A scam in which PECO customers are misled into purchasing pre-paid debit cards which are then drained of funds has struck the Philadelphia region, the electric and gas utility said Thursday. In the scam, customers are contacted by persons who claim to work for PECO and informed that they must make an immediate payment in order to avoid their electricity being shut off.  The phony employee then instructs the customer to purchase a pre-paid debit card from a convenience store or similar location, then to provide that card's number. The fraud operators then drain the funds on the card. “We want to make our customers aware of this scam so they can protect themselves from becoming victims of this and other fraudulent activities,” said Mark …

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Hurricane Sandy

Day 6: Who is Still Without Power in Marple Newtown?

Are you still without power post Hurricane Sandy?

Marple Newtown Patch readers chimed in and shared their frustrations of the power outages after Hurricane Sandy by tweeting us, adding Facebook comments, and commenting on our site. To those that shared with us, we've added your streets into the map above. Take a look and see what other neighborhoods in the Marple Newtown area are still without power. Are you still without power? What street, neighborhood, and town do you live in? Tell us in the comments.  More than 850,000 PECO customers lost power due to Hurricane Sandy. According to PECO, that's one out of every two customers who lost power.  As of 10 p.m. Friday, according to PECO, crews have safely restored service to more than 770,000 of their customers who had lost power. …

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Anita Pace

11:22 am on Monday, November 5, 2012

Power restored Sat., Nov. 3 @ 4 pm.   more ›

Hurricane Sandy

UPDATE: About 2,000 Remain Without Power in Marple Newtown

PECO continues to restore power throughout area. Here are the latest outage numbers for Marple and Newtown townships.

Hurricane Sandy caused wide-spread damage along the East Coast and locally, causing power interruptions to more than 850,000 customers, or roughly 1 out of every 2 PECO customers—making Sandy the most damaging storm in company history, according to PECO's website. PECO workers–with a crew of about 3,500 out on the scene–had restored service to more than 625,000 customers by Thursday morning. As of Thursday morning, 225,000 PECO customers were still without service. In Delaware County, 9,000 customers were still without power, as of 4 a.m. Thursday. Here are the latest outage numbers for Marple and Newtown Townships as of 4 a.m. Thursday. Marple Township: 51-500 Newtown Township: 501-1,500 Check here for PECO's most up-to-date outage …

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Hurricane Sandy

Prepare for Potential Power Outages

Read these tips from PECO as potential power outages may increase in the Marple Newtown area when Hurricane Sandy comes to town.

With Hurricane Sandy  bearing down on the East Coast, PECO  is also preparing. The utility’s full emergency response organization is preparing for the damage Sandy may inflict upon our area this weekend. Below are a few tips from PECO. How you can prepare: If an outage occurs:    Customers without power should contact the company at 1-800-841-4141. The more customers who call to report an outage, the more effectively PECO can dispatch crews and restore service. The company's automated telephone system can quickly record your outage, allowing customer care representatives to remain available to handle reports of dangerous situations. Stay away from downed wires, damaged electric equipment, and tree limbs and branches contacting electrical …

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PECO Warns Customers of Utility Scam

President Obama is not providing funding to help pay your electric or gas bill.

A scam intended to deceive people into providing their social security numbers, banking details, and other personal information by misleading them to believe that the government will help pay their utility bills has appeared in the greater Philadelphia region, PECO said last week. The scam, which has been reportedly taking place through social media such as Facebook, text messages, telephone and U.S. Mail, claims that United States President Barack Obama is providing funding to help customers pay their utility bills. “We want to make our customers aware of this scam and any potential issues so they can protect themselves from becoming victims of identity theft and other fraudulent activities,” said Mark Alden, PECO vice president of …

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Meet the PECO Smart Ideas Go Green Team at Home Depot and Win a Free Home Energy Audit

Enter to win a PECO Smart Ideas Go Green home energy audit and meet the team on Saturday, Nov. 12, at Broomall's Home Depot.

BROOMALL–PECO Smart Ideas Go Green Team will be at Home Depot in Broomall on Saturday, Nov. 12, from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m., according to Business Wire. Members of the PECO Smart Ideas Go Green Team–Brent Celek, Troy Vincent, Merrill Reese and Mike Quick–will be at the event in Broomall. Shoppers can enter to win up to a $400 home energy audit with the Green Team on Saturday–conducted by partner CMC Energy Services–and a PECO Smart Ideas Go Green Team prize pack, which includes a PECO energy saver kit, Brent Celek autographed jersey, and a football autographed by PECO Smart Ideas Go Green Team members. Winning customers will also receive valuable information about what they can do to use less energy in their homes and save more money. According …

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October Snow Historic for PECO

More than 250,000 PECO customers were without power throughout the region during Saturday's Noreaster, according to the Philadelphia Business Journal.

More than 250,000 PECO customers were without power throughout the region during Saturday's Noreaster, according to the Philadelphia Business Journal. In Delaware County, about 1,100 were without power over the weekend, according to the Philadelphia Business Journal. The Delaware County 47th Annual Halloween Parade was rescheduled from Saturday to Sunday because of the weather, while Marple Newtown High School's Band-a-Rama was entirely canceled due to the weather.  The Philadelphia area had more than 40 inches of snow last winter, roughly twice as much as a normal winter. Let's hope this October snow wasn't the start of a repeat winter.

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Delaware County Hero Scholarship Fund Receives More Than $30,000

Two separate checks, $29,186 and $2,000, were presented to benefit the county's Hero Scholarship Fund.

MEDIA–Hero Bowl Chairman Robert T. Lythgoe, who also serves as President of the Delaware County Hero Scholarship Fund, presented $29,186, the proceeds from the 2011 Hero Bowl, at the Oct. 18 meeting of Delaware County Council which was accepted on behalf of the Hero Scholarship Fund by Councilman Thomas J. McGarrigle. Ralph Brown, Delaware County external affairs manager for PECO, accompanied Lythgoe to the meeting to present a separate donation of $2,000 to the Hero Fund from PECO. Joining them for the presentations were Councilman Mario J. Civera Jr., Council Chairman, Jack Whelan and Councilman Andy Lewis. Hero Bowl committee members Joe Albany, Adriene Irving, Chief Fire Marshal Joseph Locke and Barb Darkow were also present. The …

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Hurricane Irene

County Officials Recognize First Responders, Volunteers For Swift Service During Irene

Delaware County council members took time from Tuesday's meeting to thank the area's first responders and volunteers who helped participate in the weekend's state of emergency.

MEDIA–Members of the Delaware County Counil expressed their gratitude at Tuesday's council meeting to the first responders and volunteers who responded quickly to the state of emergency declared for Hurricane Irene. County officials held a press conference on Saturday urging residents to stay indoors and offered safety tips. The county had prepared for the storm with an emergency plan, collaborating with all of the 49 municipalities' emergency personnel officials. "I'd just like to take a moment to thank you personally and this council and the first responders for doing an excellent job as far as the threat of the hurricane that happened over the weekend," addressed Councilman Mario Civera, Jr. to Council Chairman John Whelan and the …

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Hurricane Irene

2,878 Marple Newtown Residents Without Power

PECO continues to work to restore power to residents in Marple Newtown as many roadways are cleared of trees and flooding following Irene.

The aftermath of Hurricane Irene continues in the area as downed trees and wires continue to cause power outages in the area.  As of 8 p.m. Monday, PECO reported that 29,000 customers were without power in Delaware County. Ben Armstrong, a spokesperson for PECO, said Hurricane Irene was easily ranked as one of the top five worst storms they've seen so far. Marple Township has 2,018 residents without power while 860 residents were without power in Newtown Township by Monday evening, according to Armstrong. Armstrong said PECO expects to be able to restore service to about 90 percent of all customers, not just Delaware County, that currently are without electricity by Wednesday night. And the other 10 percent of those customers with extreme …

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