CALGARY, ALBERTA–(Marketwired – May 28, 2016) – More than 400 ATCO employees have been working around the clock to restore essential services to the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo in preparation for the return of residents.

For those residents who wish to return home beginning June 1, ATCO has published its Utility Restoration Map, which reflects the latest information on natural gas and electricity service in the Fort McMurray area. The map is updated daily and allows residents to determine whether electricity and natural gas is available in their neighbourhood.

Once residents have returned to their homes, ATCO is requesting that they take the following important steps in order to fully restore electricity and natural gas service:

1. Restore Natural Gas: After returning home, residents should visit ATCOresponds.com and submit the Natural Gas Service Request Form, which will arrange for an ATCO representative to visit homes to restore service, perform a natural gas safety inspection, relight natural gas appliances and ensure they are working properly. If residents don’t have internet access, they can visit a Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo Information Centre to speak with an ATCO representative or call ATCO’s Customer Assistance Centre at 310-5678.

   Once restoration has been requested, residents should place the orange placard included in their re-entry information package in the window of their home or business. This will allow ATCO crews to respond earlier if they are already in the area.

2. Check Their Electricity: If residents do not have electricity, they should check their electric panel and breaker to determine if a blown fuse or tripped breaker is the cause. If they cannot restore electricity by moving any tripped switches to the ‘on’ position, they are encouraged to call the Electricity 24/7 emergency outage line at 1-800-668-5506.

3. Contact Their Retailer: For customers who have contacted their retailer to end electricity or natural gas service, please call them to reactivate the account. For customers who have not contacted their electricity or natural gas retailer, no further action is required.

Further information on the steps residents should take to restore their service after returning to the community is available at ATCOresponds.com. The website also includes updates on ATCO’s progress in restoring essential services and important contact information. Additionally, ATCO will have representatives available at the Information Centres in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo and has extended its call centre hours to accommodate questions from area residents.

With nearly 8,000 employees and assets of approximately $19 billion, ATCO is a diversified global corporation delivering service excellence and innovative business solutions in Structures & Logistics (workforce housing, innovative modular facilities, construction, site support services, and logistics and operations management); Electricity (power generation, distributed generation, and electricity distribution, transmission and infrastructure development); Pipelines & Liquids (natural gas transmission, distribution and infrastructure development, energy storage, and industrial water solutions); and Retail Energy (electricity and natural gas retail sales). More information can be found at www.ATCO.com.