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RALEIGH, N.C., Sept. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Progress Energy crews are working into the night to restore power to about 3,600 customers that remain without electricity in the wake of Tropical Storm Hanna. The company has restored more than 187,000 customers since midnight.

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The counties with the largest numbers of power outages at 8 p.m. are Wayne (1,000); New Hanover (650); Carteret (450); and Duplin (430). Outages are scattered elsewhere. Progress Energy expects to restore service to most customers by midnight tonight, with restoration in particularly hard-hit areas expected to be completed by Sunday at midnight.

The rolling nature of the storm meant that new outages were being reported this morning even as crews in other areas were restoring service. Between midnight and 4 p.m. today, company and contract crews had restored service to more than 187,000 customers. The largest number of customers without power at any one time was approximately 55,000 at 8 a.m. today.

The quickest way to report an outage during a storm is to call the automated outage-reporting system at 1-800-419-6356. For the latest information, visit Progress Energy's storm site online at www.progress-energy.com/storm.

Progress Energy, headquartered in Raleigh, N.C., is a Fortune 250 energy company with more than 21,000 megawatts of generation capacity and $9 billion in annual revenues. The company will observe a century of operation in 2008. Progress Energy includes two major utilities that serve 3.1 million customers in the Carolinas and Florida. Progress Energy is the 2006 recipient of the Edison Electric Institute's Edison Award, the industry's highest honor, in recognition of its operational excellence. The company also is the first utility to receive the prestigious J.D. Power and Associates Founder's Award for customer service. Progress Energy serves two fast-growing areas of the country, and the company is pursuing a balanced approach to meeting the future energy needs of the region. That balance includes increased energy efficiency programs, investments in renewable energy technologies and a state-of-the-art electricity system. For more information about Progress Energy, visit the company's Web site at www.progress-energy.com.

There will not be another press release today. The next update from Progress Energy will be Sunday morning. Customers and media can find outage information on Progress Energy's Web site at www.progress-energy.com/outagemap.

SOURCE Progress Energy

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