Almost 22,000 Pepco customers in Prince George’s County were without power as of 3 p.m. Wednesday, about 2,500 more than at 11 a.m., according to the electric company’s Web site.
An additional 16,833 Baltimore Gas & Electric Co. customers also were without power as of 5 p.m., according to that company’s Web site. The county said BGE expected to restore power by today. “We have told BGE we are dissatisfied with the lack of service the utility has provided,” County Executive Jack Johnson said in a statement Wednesday.
Pepco spokesman Robert Dobkin said Prince George’s problems resulted from ice-heavy trees and limbs knocking out high voltage power lines to three electric substations in the county. He said the company expected to restore power to most homes in the D.C. area by midnight.
Dobkin attributed Pepco’s rising afternoon numbers to more people calling in, and the computer system catching up. Pepco’s most recent report also included 688 outages in the District and 117 in Montgomery County.
“I think there was probably more sleet further north and west [in Washington and Montgomery County] and probably a little more freezing rain in Prince George’s County,” said Brian Lasorsa, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service.
Lasorsa said freezing rain is ice. “When you get more freezing rain … power lines could go down or trees could fall on power lines,” he said.
At about 4:15 a.m. Wednesday, Dobkin said, Pepco began experiencing a rash of power outages. He estimated that outages in the three jurisdictions reached approximately 40,000 at its worst point during the day.
Although Pepco planned to restore power to most homes by late Wednesday, Dobkin warned that some repairs “could go into [today], especially if there are high winds that cause further outages and hamper restoration efforts.”
Overnight in greater Washington, Lasorsa said, it was expected to very windy and well below freezing, but dry.
