Energy blogs

As Hurricane Sandy continues to track towards the coast of the Eastern United States, utility companies have been preparing for an imminent threat that could lead to a substantial and prolonged power outage for utility customers not only on the East Coast, but also as far west as Chicago and as far north as Canada.

The storm will feature Category 1 force winds, currently gusting up to 90 mph, lightning, rain, hail, possibly some tornados once the storm makes landfall, and even blizzard conditions in higher elevations of the Appalachians where 1-2 feet of snow is expected.

Sandy truly poses an unprecedented challenge for utility companies.

So here is a Twitter round-up of some of the news utility companies are putting out:

PPL Electric (Central and Eastern PA):

RT @nwsbinghamton: #Sandy is coming! 52 mph wind gust recently reported at 2100 ft in Luzerne county PA. #tiersandy #NYWX #PAWX

Customers who lose power are asked to report their outage athttp:// bit.ly/SVRNrr  if you have mobile device or 1-800-342-577

Novec (Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative): 

Here are some more tips to help cope with #Sandy:http://youtu.be/ju2EWMLxYSQ

News Release: NOVEC is restoring power as outages occur http://ow.ly/eRzvw

BGE (Baltimore Gas & Electric): 

BGE aggressively working to restore electric service when safe http://ow.ly/eRwTi

Atlantic City Electric:

Please report your outage to 1-800-833-7476, http://bit.ly/wbqiUb  or through our mobile app at http://bit.ly/L3Bvs4 .

Please check our outage map for updates: http://bit.ly/TiSQQp

Pepco Maryland:

Read the latest blog post on restoring power: http://bit.ly/yV0dLt

NSTAR (Massachusetts):

http://Boston.com  posted a list of important phone numbers to have handy during the storm. Find them here: http://bo.st/VVRTW4

PJM Interconnection (13 Eastern United States, and D.C.):

As of 1:30 pm electric customer outages totaled 80,400 in the Mid-Atlantic and Virginia regions

First Energy Corp (Ohio):

JCP&L Has 1,400 Linemen and 1,200 Forestry Crews Strategically Located for Expected Work to Restore Power to Customers http://ow.ly/eQVoP

While the storm is expected to be most intense from tonight through tuesday morning, the weather conditions can still change rapidly. Utility companies are making a concerted effort to keep people abreast of any outages and changing weather conditions via twitter.

If you want to keep track of what eastern U.S. utilities are doing, find out how to report an outage, or get access to any other utility information, you can follow OpenEI's twitter list of Utilities.