Duquesne Light Aims for Faster Power Restoration After Storms

Utility company says new technology and more mutual aid crews will help speed up recovery efforts.

Mar. 15, 2026 at 4:19am

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Duquesne Light is working to restore power to over 41,000 customers in the Pittsburgh area after severe storms on Friday left 163,000 without electricity. The utility says it has learned from last year's prolonged outages and has brought in over 500 mutual aid trucks, more than double what it used previously, to help with the restoration efforts. Duquesne Light also says new technology upgrades will allow them to assess damage and plan repairs more efficiently.

Why it matters

Power outages can have significant impacts on communities, disrupting daily life, impacting businesses, and putting vulnerable populations at risk. Duquesne Light's ability to restore power more quickly after major storms is crucial for the Pittsburgh region.

The details

Duquesne Light has already restored power to over 100,000 customers, but 41,000 remain without electricity as of Saturday night. The utility says it has brought in over 500 mutual aid trucks, far exceeding the 200 it has used in the past. It also says it can now handle up to 2,000 mutual aid trucks, addressing an internal bottleneck it faced last year. New technology upgrades are also expected to help Duquesne Light assess damage and plan repairs more efficiently.

  • The storms hit the Pittsburgh area on Friday, March 14, 2026.
  • As of 11 p.m. on Saturday, March 15, 2026, 41,000 customers remained without power.

The players

Duquesne Light

The electric utility company serving the Pittsburgh metropolitan area.

Matt Neistein

Director of communications and brand for Duquesne Light.

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What they’re saying

“We've got all hands on deck. It's widespread damage. It's really serious for us. This is the worst we've seen since last April.”

— Matt Neistein, Director of communications and brand

“We're positive that we're going to get things moving a little bit faster, maybe, than people were expecting, and we're happy that we're going to be able to do that now.”

— Matt Neistein, Director of communications and brand

What’s next

Duquesne Light plans to issue an estimated restoration time for customers still without power on Sunday, March 16, 2026.

The takeaway

Duquesne Light's investments in technology upgrades and securing more mutual aid support since last year's prolonged outages appear to be paying off, as the utility aims to restore power more quickly to Pittsburgh-area residents affected by the latest round of severe storms.