After Hurricane Irene swept through Maryland on Aug. 27, hundreds of thousands of residents were left in the dark for as long as a week.
Now Maryland’s utility regulator is investigating the electric companies’ performance during the storm.
“Hurricane Irene severely impacted electrical service to a significant portion of the state of Maryland,” the Public Service Commission said in an order. “Because of questions that continue to be raised related to storm preparedness and storm restoration efforts, the commission will conduct a consolidated inquiry to review the preparedness and performance of the utilities in responding to the major outages caused by Hurricane Irene.”
Included in the Inquiry are Pepco, BGE, Delmarva Power & Light Company, The Potomac Edison Company, Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative and Choptank Electric Cooperative. The companies have been asked to file reports of their performance with the PSC by Sept. 8 at 5 p.m.
The PSC announced Friday that it will hold public hearings where residents can submit their comments to the investigation. The hearings will be on Sept. 27 at 7 p.m. at 111 W. Chesapeake Ave. in Towson, room 106, and on Oct. 11 at 7 p.m. on the first floor of 101 N. Gay St. in Baltimore.
Those who can’t attend can send written comments to PSC Executive Secretary David Collins at William Donald Schaefer Tower, 6 St. Paul St., 16th floor, Baltimore, MD 21202 by Oct. 17. Reference “Case No. 9279 — Public Comment.”
