Pepco performed worse than both Dominion and Baltimore Gas and Electric in terms of its ability to restore power following the June 29 storm that knocked out power for more than a million area residents, according to a new analysis by U.S. Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Maryland.
“Although Dominion had more than double the number of outages as Pepco at the start of the restoration effort on the evening of Friday, June 29, the number of Pepco and Dominion customers without power was almost equal by Monday, July 2,” Van Hollen said in a letter to Montgomery County Council President Roger Berliner, D-Bethesda. “By Sunday, July 1, Dominion had restored electricity to almost 60 percent of its customers that lost power, whereas Pepco had restored electricity to just over 20 percent of its customers that lost power.”
Pepco used fewer crews than Dominion at the start of the restoration process and continued to deploy fewer workers than Dominion every day, he said. As a result, Pepco didn’t get its restoration effort on par with Dominion until Wednesday, July 4.
Van Hollen urged the Maryland Public Service Commission to reject Pepco’s request for a 4-percent rate increase for Maryland ratepayers. The utility regulator is scheduled to decide no later than Friday evening whether Pepco can get part or all of the $68 million it has asked for.
The congressman also expressed support for an initiative by Maryland Sen. Brian Frosh, D-Montgomery County, to end the practice of charging ratepayers for the first 24 hours of a power outage to recoup lost revenues, and Gov. Martin O’Malley has called for a review of the practice.
