Peco

The BWI Business Partnership will host its September Signature breakfast, Wednesday, Sept. 19, from 7:45 to 9:15 a.m., at Four Points by Sheraton BWI Airport, 1001 Scott Drive, in Linthicum. Calvin Butler, senior vice president for corporate affairs for Exelon Corporation, with be the featured speaker. Exelon is the parent company of BGE, ComEd in Chicago, PECO in Philadelphia and Exelon Generation. Butler has been the face of Exelon in Maryland since the energy giant purchase Constellation Energy in March and is charged with raising business support for the company.

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.

First things first. Not long after the Martin's West Ballroom doors opened, some 450 folks were busy at their tables -- digging into the Chi Eta Phi, Gamma Chapter's "Annual Crab Feast." As the eating part wound down, the dancing part of the afternoon cranked up. The lights dimmed as the DJ turned up the volume. The line dance, "Booty Call," drew a full slate of dancers to the floor -- some still wearing their crab bibs. Even chapter past president Tina Yates took a little time off from her afternoon duties to join the fun. "I didn't have any food today to work off," she explained, "but I worked off the food I ate yesterday!"

NEW YORK -- U.S. stocks climbed yesterday for a third straight day, as rallies in Hewlett-Packard Co. and Boeing Co. offset a slump in electric utility shares.The Dow Jones industrial average gained 9.00, to 3,937.27, while the Standard & Poor's 500 Index advanced 0.27, to 472.79. The Nasdaq Combined Index climbed 2.50, to 792.62, led by gains in Intel Corp. and Oracle Corp. The American Stock Exchange Market Value Index closed 0.48 higher, at 475.32.Meanwhile, the Dow Jones utilities average fell 2.70, to 212.76.

A consortium of regional utilities, including Baltimore Gas and Electric Co., yesterday proposed a plan to modify the nation's largest and oldest power pool system in response to the federal government's mandate to foster competition.The utilities' plan to alter the existing Pennsylvania/New Jersey/Maryland Interconnection, known as the PJM system, would grant bulk power buyers greater access to transmission lines and cause other changes in the way regional electricity is supplied.The plan comes in the wake of a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission effort to introduce competition to benefit so-called "wholesale" entities, such as municipalities, energy brokers and power cooperatives.

PHILADELPHIA -- In the past two months, an insidious intruder has repeatedly entered Tom and Patty Williams' home in rural East Bradford, Chester County, Pa., ruining two answering machines, their water heater control panel and their well pump.Despite the expense (easily $1,000) and inconvenience (no hot water was tough, but no water at all was awful), Tom Williams tried to look at the bright side: Their annual $500 insurance deductible is out of the way, so the next loss should be completely covered.

You can celebrate your love of jazz 100 different ways in Philadelphia this weekend. Or, if you prefer to stay closer to home, attend the 6th Annual East Coast Jazz Festival, a four-day marathon of music in Bethesda and Rockville.Beginning today and running through Sunday, the PECO Energy Jazz Festival in Philadelphia features four headline concerts and more than 100 jazz events around the clock and throughout the city. National artists scheduled to appear include Betty Carter, George Shearing, Tommy Flanagan and Shirley Scott.

If you have never celebrated the Fourth of July in Philadelphia, this might be the year to go for it. The holiday weekend offers an array of patriotic events for visitors. The Lights of Liberty Show, a sound-and-light spectacle about the American Revolution, takes place today, tomorrow and Wednesday through Saturday. The patriotic show features huge, colorful images projected onto historic buildings with accompanying narration by Walter Cronkite, Ossie Davis, Charlton Heston and other celebrities.

Construction started at Conowingo plantPhiladelphia Electric Co. has started construction of a new administration building at its Conowingo Hydroelectric Station, along U.S. 1 and the Susquehanna River.The $2.5 million, six-month project is the first expansion of the plant in Conowingo's 65-year history.The new addition will be a stucco, steel-framed three-story construction at the west end of the powerhouse. The project also includes renovations to the existing work space, including water system modifications.

Heavy snowfalls in New York State, followed by this week's warm weather and rain, have sharply increased the flow of the Susquehanna River, prompting officials at Conowingo Dam to open floodgates to release the added volume of water.A portion of Route 222, between Port Deposit and the dam, was closed Friday as a precaution and will remain closed until the water subsides, but there is no threat to homes or businesses in the area, officials said."There's a pretty tremendous force of water coming down the river," said Michael Wood, spokesman for PECO Energy Co., which owns the dam.The river crested at Conowingo at 50 feet 2 inches at 9: 30 a.m. yesterday.