Sat Jun 21 13:40:00 UTC 2025: Here’s a summary and a rewritten news article based on the text:

**Summary:**

A powerful storm with straight-line winds knocked out power to over 327,000 PECO customers across the Delaware Valley. Crews are working around the clock to restore power, facing challenges from downed trees and damaged equipment. PECO has augmented its workforce with crews from other areas and aims to have the vast majority of customers back online by Monday evening. The restoration effort is complicated by an impending heat wave, making the need for power even more urgent.

**News Article:**

**PECO Races to Restore Power to Thousands as Heat Wave Looms After Severe Storms**

**LAFAYETTE HILL, Pa.** – PECO is working urgently to restore power to over 133,000 customers still without electricity following Thursday night’s destructive storms that swept across the Delaware Valley. At the height of the storm, over 327,000 customers lost power. The storms, which brought straight-line winds and heavy rain, downed trees and power lines, causing widespread damage to PECO’s equipment.

“This was a very impactful storm for our customers,” said PECO spokesperson Ben Armstrong. “We saw whole trees down across our service territory, bringing down power lines and damaging equipment.”

The storm’s impact stretched from Philadelphia to Cape May and Doylestown, forcing the evacuation of an outdoor concert on the Jersey Shore.

PECO has bolstered its repair crews with over 1,400 additional workers, including teams from ComEd in Chicago. Crews are addressing hazards such as downed power lines and damaged connections to homes, ensuring public safety as they work.

The power restoration efforts are further complicated by an impending heat wave. The region is under an Extreme Heat Watch, with temperatures expected to soar into the 90s this weekend.

PECO aims to restore power to the vast majority of customers by Monday evening, but acknowledges that some pockets of customers may experience longer outages.

“We expect the vast majority of customers to be restored by Monday afternoon or Monday evening. We do know pockets of customers will take a little longer than that.” Armstrong said.

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