Local officials are demanding changes from Pepco after last week’s snowstorm caused another round of prolonged power outages. “This storm was a repeat disaster,” said Montgomery County Councilman Hans Riemer, who said he supports legislation that requires Pepco to pay fines for providing poor service. It’s a familiar cycle for customers of Pepco, the electricity supplier for customers in Maryland and the District, who continue to go without power — sometimes for several days — after blizzards and thunderstorms large and small.
Clay Anderson, a Pepco spokesman, said the utility is keeping more than 500 workers from other states
on call in case the ice, sleet and freezing rain forecast to hit the area Tuesday and Wednesday
cause more outages.
“Once ice starts to accumulate over a quarter of an inch, the weight of that ice can cause problems on our equipment and wire,” Anderson said. “Ice is definitely one of our more difficult storm situations.”
Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley wrote a scathing letter to Pepco’s chairman, Joseph Rigby, calling the company’s restoration rate “dismal” in comparison to other utilities.
The governor is asking the state’s Public Service Commission to conduct hearings on “issues arising from this storm” and is calling for legislation requiring the commission to adopt “enhanced reliability standards” that would allow the watchdog agency to fine utilities for poor performance. In the District, Ward 3 Councilwoman Mary Cheh has introduced similar legislation.
O’Malley also wrote that he is angry the company’s Web site was down during the blackout, preventing customers from viewing an outage map. Pepco spokesman Bob Hainey said the site “wasn’t putting out accurate information,” which technicians had to fix.
Because such critiques have been made before, the governor wrote that “we seem to be back where we started.”
“I’m frustrated,” said Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett. “This is going to require a major revamping of the system, a major investment and not quick fixes.”
Anderson said Pepco is essentially “still in storm mode,” even though fewer than 50 of the 180,000 customers who lost power after Wednesday’s snowstorm have not had service restored.
