Bge

Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. workers continued to investigate what caused high-voltage lines to go down outside the city of Annapolis, putting on a light show Thursday night before plunging more than 55,000 customers into darkness. Electricity was restored by 1 a.m. Friday, though work will continue over the weekend, BGE spokeswoman Rachael Lighty said. The transmission lines disconnected about 9 p.m. Thursday from a tower near Bestgate Road and Generals Highway, an area near the Annapolis Mall.

Power has been restored to Annapolis homes and businesses and other nearby parts of Anne Arundel County after Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. reported a disruption to two main lines servicing the area Thursday night. Off-duty city police officers were called in to help direct traffic at blackened intersections throughout the city, and county officers had to assist in getting people out of the Annapolis Mall, said Lt. Glenn Shanahan, a county police spokesman. Anne Arundel Medical Center ran on generators, awaiting word as to when the power would return, a spokeswoman said.

Central Maryland is under a high wind watch starting Saturday morning, with gusts expected to reach 60 mph during the day. The forecast prompted utility Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. to warn of possible power outages. Rain is forecast to usher in the change in weather pattern Thursday evening, with blustery weather expected Friday and through Saturday. Sustained winds of 20 mph with gusts up to 35 mph are expected Friday, increasing to sustained 30 mph winds with up to 60 mph gusts Saturday.

One word would accurately describe the remarks by Baltimore Gas and Electric officials and the Maryland Office of People's Counsel in their case to increase rates - babble ("BGE to make case for increase," Dec. 2). The customers should not have to pay one penny for the company's so-called funding of infrastructure improvements needed for reliable service. Let BGE stop wasteful spending on unnecessary advertising. The truth of the matter is that real reliable service from BGE will not come until the utility admits that their major problem is a shortage of power restoration crews.

Eileen Chiat got a very surprising letter from Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. last week -- a turn-off notice. Even though she didn't miss a payment. "I went bonkers," the Owings Mills resident said. A confluence of events was behind the mistake, according to BGE. Chiat pays by automatic deduction, her due date fell during the Thanksgiving holiday and this was the first time since BGE launched a new billing system in January that its business office had been closed for two consecutive weekdays.

Hearings begin Monday in a case that will decide whether Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. customers can expect higher distribution charges next year. BGE is asking for increases that would come to about $6.62 a month for the typical residential electric customer and about $4.26 a month for the typical residential gas customer. Adding in business customers, the rate request would raise $175 million in the first 12 months. Battle lines have formed already. BGE says it needs the higher charges to help fund infrastructure improvements required for reliable service, but other groups contend that the request overreaches.

A gas main break near Overlea High School closed Kenwood Avenue Wednesday afternoon and forced 10 homes to be evacuated, Baltimore County police said. BGE stopped the gas leak at Kenwood and East avenues, around 3 p.m. and officials said Kenwood Avenue was expected to reopen Wednesday afternoon. No injuries were reported. Separately, BGE said Wednesday that it was upgrading natural gas mains in 10 Baltimore-area neighborhoods and will start six additional projects next year.

Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. said Friday that winter heating bills for its residential natural gas customers will likely rise 11 percent over last year due to colder weather — still low enough to be the second-cheapest winter of the past decade. Natural gas costs remain at about the same level as last winter. But BGE expects this winter will be chillier, increasing usage and thus the total cost to households. The utility is forecasting a $9-a-month increase for the typical residential gas customer during the November-through-March heating season, compared with the year-earlier period.

Baltimore Gas and Electric Co., which fixed the last of its Cyclone Sandy power outages Friday, sent workers to harder-hit regions over the weekend and on Monday. BGE said 64 overhead linemen, safety and support workers are in the Philadelphia area, helping PECO. Both utilities are owned by Exelon Corp. A dozen BGE natural-gas mechanics and technicians, meanwhile, left Monday to aid New Jersey Natural Gas, which shut off service to part of the state last week because the system had been so badly damaged.

Recovery for the worst-hit areas of Maryland dragged on three days after the remnants of Sandy swept through, while the rest of the state got back to business as usual. In Crisfield, among the hardest-hit areas, some residents faced long-term relocation after storm waters made their homes uninhabitable, including about 100 who live in a public housing project. Elsewhere, tens of thousands of people remained without power Thursday evening, mostly in snowbound Garrett County. Service for some Verizon customers also was down.