SPEAK OUT: Rate Pepco, BG&E After Storm

Troy July 2, 2012 at 05:29 pm

We have been without power since Friday at 1045pm. In our part of Takoma Park, any time the power is out we are out for days - hurricane, snow/ice storms, etc. After the snowstorm which left us without power for days, PEPCO indicated that things would be different. They indicated that part of the problem was bad weather limited their restoration efforts because of bad snow and ice. PEPCO's system currently says our power like everyone else's will be restored by July 6 at 11pm. And this time we don't have snow or ice. They also pushed "smart meters" on us which supposedly would help in crises but it is not clear to me what benefit getting a smart meter made for us. Rather than being pro-active with the gadgets, PEPCO should have been more pro-active in developing a restoration strategy that works even when there is no snow or ice covering the roads! A strategy that works even on sunny days.

twillia1 July 2, 2012 at 05:41 pm

May I suggest that the county commit to a plan to bury electric lines in conjunction with road improvement projects? Gotta a road to re-pave? Get the lines along it underground at the same time
If we can bury FIOS I think we can save some time, aggravation, and long term maintenance dollars burying these lines. If a few trees need to die so be it but I think that could be avoided. What a wonderful idea for Stimulus projects! We need some leadership here and fewer pointed fingers [Gov O'Malley?]

Henriot St. Gerard July 2, 2012 at 05:44 pm

While my power was restored on Sunday, I find no comfort knowing that many in the county are still suffering. Considering that Pepco has experienced enough of these events to be better prepared to quickly respond, they continue to fail residents time and time again.

Esther French (Editor) July 2, 2012 at 05:55 pm

I'm glad to hear your power's back on, Henriot.

ROBERT SCHROEDER July 2, 2012 at 06:10 pm

I want to thank everyone [power crews/police/fire/traffic crews] for making this power outage safe for all, I stayed @ my dads from Friday night until this morning [he lives in Leisure World where they have underground power sub stations, so they seem free from power outages]. But there is a way to check if you have power [most may know this] but call your home & if the answering machine comes on you got power, my girlfriend is on vacation & sent me an e-mail to tell me she called & heard my answering machine on]. But getting back to the main problems, my dad & I saw stop signs all over as well as police direction traffic, not 1 or 2 police. But like 4 police officers! Also while @ my dads I heard where 1 TV news crew got power on to some building for the disabled who some were on oxygen.
So bless them all! I am going to go e-mail them a big thank you..

David Browne July 2, 2012 at 06:13 pm

What's lower than F?

sean altekruse July 2, 2012 at 06:17 pm

If there was a way to leave pepco a message my neighbors could tell them that all we need is a transformer reset. They have no system to receive information like that, so we will continue to be powerless until Friday night.

George July 2, 2012 at 06:35 pm

I have lived in four states in my 4 plus decades on this planet and I have NEVER experienced anywhere near as many power outages, brown-outs, power surges, etc. as I have in the 7 years I've lived in Montgomery Village. WHAT THE "F" PEPCO?!?
Even in NJ, with the HORRENDOUS storm during the winter of 1995-96 the state never had power outages of any length at all...and in fact, the entire area I lived in (central Jersey) NEVER lost power! and when HURRICANE (Gloria/) hit in 1985, with wires down all over, we were w/o power for (maybe) 24 - 36 hours. I am really begin to see that PEPCO is run by folks who have gambled profits above pro-activity, deferred maintenance, not worked with good sub-contractors, and in fact, are not very competent when it comes to disaster planning and risk mitigation.

jag July 2, 2012 at 06:38 pm

I think the only part your smart meters has to play in this is that PEPCO automatically knows your power is out instead of you having to call them to let them know. I might be wrong, though.

Fred Friendly July 2, 2012 at 07:45 pm

It's four days since the power outage, hundreds of homes in my neighborhood are still without power, downed powerlines litter the streets,and Pepco says they have no idea what's causing the outages, they have no idea when any crews will be assigned and we'll be lucky to have electricity by the end of the week.

Ray Rheault July 2, 2012 at 08:31 pm

How did you get an estimate from BGE of when you might get power? As I type this it's been 66.5 hrs, and this is after I had 12 trees removed from my property for the Reliability project.

Ray Rheault July 2, 2012 at 08:33 pm

Technically it will be three days as of this evening. It stinks but Fri p.m. to Mon p.m. is 72 hrs, not 96 hrs.

Stephen Sears July 2, 2012 at 09:26 pm

Amazing. I could answer "both" to the poll. I'm sure they're doing the best they can, but it is abysmal nonetheless. Per usual, these hapless, leadership-challenged utilities refuse to acknowledge that they're supposed to provide reliable service for their paying customers. And please, don't tell me about "cost." How much does it cost to get out-of-state utility-personnel in on overtime to make repairs for the umpteenth time? How much is it costing to trim street trees - which really looks like a high-school prank gone awry in many areas? (I'm not even going to try and talk about lost productivity and food spoilage on the customers' part.)
Imagine what they could do if they re-allocated resources away from these never-ending tasks into something smart - like burying the lines?

KathieMac July 3, 2012 at 01:53 am

Day 3, 10:45 PM and I just spoke to a human at BGE who said they identified a problem on OldChapel Road that was keeping power out in Rockledge...but no crews were assigned to work on it. REALLY! Western PA and Ohio are posting 95% restoration rates. Both states combined have fewer customers without power than PG BGE county customers without alone. An interesting note is to look at the percentages of BGE customers restored by jurisdiction. Something to be said for living in more affluent neighborhoods.

Emilee July 3, 2012 at 03:13 am

The words that I want to use to describe Pepco's response to the power outages BOTH on 6/23 and 6/29 are definitely not appropriate for this forum. I'll give you the PG rated version and just say WORTHLESS AND INCOMPETENT!! They should be ashamed of themselves.

Joe Thomas July 3, 2012 at 03:23 am

Sorry to tell you but when you live in a town that has huge trees you should expect your lines to fall when trees fall.

Kim Cooper July 3, 2012 at 11:18 am

We have BGE and I'm really surprised by how well they performed, at least for us. Our power was restored on Sunday afternoon around 1:00. I do know others who are still without power but considering the scale of the storm and the power outages, I'd say they are doing a decent job.

Robin Ferrier July 3, 2012 at 12:03 pm

Where's rate Comcast?

Native July 3, 2012 at 12:57 pm

I did not see one PEPCO vehicle in Bethesda until Sunday night. I asked my friends and they had the same experience.

Krystal July 3, 2012 at 01:20 pm

Just heard that Pepco tried to restore power to some lines near Poolesville but ended up starting a forest fire instead. What are these guys doing? Are they not checking the lines before they switch the power back on?! What if that was somebody's house?! I'd rather go without power then have my house burn down.

Randy Cardinal July 3, 2012 at 01:45 pm

BG&E has done a terrible job this time. Ever since the cost double they have gotten worse. We use to have the trucks out working within two hours. Yesterday was the first time I saw trucks and they were from Penn. They sat in their trucks for 3 hours before they moved. Lines were down everywhere. I saw more comcast trucks than I did BG&E trucks. It's not the trees 100 %, it is the old Sh_T on top of the poles. They don't do maintenance on them, they just wait until they blow or something happens and most of the time they just install the same ole crap like the resisters, they just put them back in. They need to be fined for everyday after 3 days the power is out. They need to split these companies up and have competition , just like the health care system should be. OH don't even get me started on that. LOL

Randy Cardinal July 3, 2012 at 01:48 pm

I think their DOPPLER Radar was broke, even the guy that was interviewed on channel 5 knew it was coming Friday and he booked his hotel that day. He was from NOAA ,

Randy Cardinal July 3, 2012 at 01:49 pm

DITTO for BG&E

Randy Cardinal July 3, 2012 at 01:53 pm

They are talking about burying the lines , However that is tens of millions and at least a 10 yr project, they need to start out by replacing all the old crap on top of the poles. One thing they also need is a supervisor running around making sure their ass are not sitting in the trucks sleeping like they were Monday for 3 hrs at the end of the street. Don't they think people see this and wonder, NO that's just it , they don't think. IDIOTS ALL IDIOTS !

Ray Rheault July 3, 2012 at 03:02 pm

Please re-post if you find out anything new, KathieMac.
Thanks, Your fellow Rockledge-r P.S.: WTF kind of answer is that?

Skip July 3, 2012 at 04:48 pm

We have the same problem You would think they would have quick hit crews that went out and just reset transformers but PEPCO has many problems. They laid off a large portion of their employees and are now bargining with the union for a contract . They are more focused on profits and rate increases not customer satisfaction. No leadership regarding emergency response or creativity.

Lezlie Crosswhite July 3, 2012 at 09:50 pm

I just called PEPCO and got a real person somehow. She assured me that my house had power. I assured her it did not. She was most surprised. She had no answer about when the power would be back on.

Rachael July 4, 2012 at 01:00 am

I have a power line on the ground that sparks and have been waiting for 3 days and through numerous phone calls for them to come and fix it. There is major damage to my back yard and the downed line is a safety and fire hazzard. They keep telling me they will get to it whenn they get to it. My rating because the danger is so severe would have to be "ZERO"

deshunx July 6, 2012 at 04:29 am

So BG&E are telling the same lie to all of its customers..."We have your ticket ready for techs to pickup we are waiting for the next crew. Lies that was three days ago. And then they tell me this morning that the power will be back on by 5 PM today well it's 12:25 I got nothing. I have yet to see there presents anywhere in the Glen Dale area where we have 9 homes left with no power. BG&E YOU SUCK!!! Break these big power companies up and make them compete.

GeoPa July 7, 2012 at 08:52 pm

The usual Pepco's Inferior preparation in trimming trees prior to the storm and the disregard to replacing dangerously leaning, overloaded and deteriorated power poles, despite to the public relations advertisement by Pepco during the year, cannot fail but to result in the 5+ day power outage. Montgomery County/Bethesda is not a 3rd world country. It's time for Pepco to put its act together and deliver 1st class service to the public as we pay through the nose. MC politicians must do something to correct this unacceptable chronic treatment of the public by Pepco if they want to be re-elected!