The preparation and response efforts of utilities to Hurricane Irene were commended by the Department of Energy in a commentary written by Patricia Hoffman, the Assistant Energy Secretary for the Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability. Hoffman expressed the Administration's gratitude for "the commitment and hard work of the utilities and the tens of thousands of workers" for their efforts to restore power to 5.5 million customers. "We want to thank the repair crews and support personnel for their continued commitment to work around the clock to restore everyone's power safely as soon as possible."