Power Outages

In his letter to the Sun ( "O'Malley's Wrong About Electric Deregulation," Feb. 8) BGE planning analyst Paul Ritterhoff states that Gov. Martin O'Malley's effort to blame the prolonged, storm-related power outages on a deregulated electricity market is deceitful. Maybe he is right. But here is my question for Mr. Ritterhoff and BGE: After decades of power outages caused by snow, ice and wind bringing down power lines from falling trees and branches, why are these power lines still hanging up in the air?

Edgewood Elementary School students were dismissed at 9:30 a.m. Monday. A Harford County Public Schools spokesperson said there was a power outage in the building. "BGE is currently working underground at Edgewood Elementary School to make repairs," Teri Kranefeld, the school system's director of communications, wrote in an e-mail message Monday afternoon. "Restoration time has not yet been determined. " The school on Cedar Drive has about 440 students. Check back with http://www.exploreharford.com for updates.

More than a week after Hurricane Irene blew through Maryland, power has been restored to almost all public schools in Baltimore, Baltimore County and Anne Arundel County. In Baltimore County, Winfield Elementary is closed Tuesday because it doesn't have power, and in the city, Lockerman Bundy Elementary is also closed to students, the systems said. Lockerman Bundy staff should report to Mary Ann Winterling Elementary. Irene played havoc with the schedules of educators, parents and students, as schools lost, gained, and in some instances re-lost power from day to day. Text NIGHTLIFE to 70701 to sign up for Baltimore Sun nightlife and music text alerts

Tomorrow marks 70 years since the historic “Palm Sunday Storm” that dropped a surprise 21.9 inches of wet snow on Baltimore. The storm was truly “freak,” observers said, with forecasts calling for light rain and snow flurries to the west. A steady snow from 2 a.m. Sunday through 9 p.m. that evening dropped three feet in Carroll County. The snow was called “wet and clinging,” leaving thousands of cars abandoned, phone and power lines snapped and buildings collapsed.

As someone who endured a five-day power outage after Hurricane Irene, I am bemused by Bill Alcarese's letter blaming trees for the downed power lines ("As Irene demonstrated, trees have their disadvantages," Sept. 1). The problem is not with the trees but with the power lines, which should be buried underground. Every year, this country loses hundreds of millions of dollars in lost productivity due to downed power lines that shut down businesses and keep people from getting to work.

I wonder if anyone knows why the power companies seem to have such a hard time keeping the power on in south Catonsville during foul weather. I live near Catonsville High School. During July, power has been interrupted twice, for roughly a total of about five hours. That doesn't seem like much but I have family living near Edmondson Avenue and their power has yet to go out this month. I've lived at my current location for close to 18 years. In all that time, power outages seem to have occurred remarkably more frequently than in any other section of Catonsville.

High winds and heavy rain Monday morning knocked out power to more than 50,000 Baltimore Gas & Electric Co. customers throughout the city and surrounding counties and caused coastal flooding in low-lying areas. Baltimore County officials temporarily issued a "shelter in place" advisory for Bowleys Quarters and Millers Island, with reports of standing water ranging from 8 inches to 2 feet in some areas. Fire crews evacuated at least one family from the 2800 block of Bay Drive on Millers Island, and residents were urged to stay indoors until the water receded.

At the beginning of the week, Principal Amanda Rice had all the first-day-of-school preparations at George Washington Elementary: a pristine building, a fresh vision and a new suit. The only thing she didn't have was her 239 students. "It was so sad," Rice recalled Thursday - still waiting for the first day of school. "We were moping around like kids. We couldn't wait to greet our babies. " Friday morning, five days after the scheduled start of the school year, Rice will finally get to welcome students to the Southwest Baltimore school . Like other Baltimore-area principals and teachers, her plans have been put on hold by power outages in the wake of Hurricane Irene; more than a dozen schools in the region will remain closed until next week.

During last month's most severe storm, a snow-laden branch connected with power lines and ignited outside Edward Loomis' Ten Hills home. That fire was quickly extinguished, but he wasn't so lucky in 2005 when a limb took down power lines and started a fire that damaged his garage. Karen Segall and her family suffered through years of regular, prolonged power outages before paying $25,000 to install a generator at their Stevenson home last fall. That powered their home when the lights went out last month.

We used to live in the Harwood Park community and, contrary to what Baltimore Gas and Electric says, there were always numerous power outages throughout the entire community and the residents never knew how long they would be without electricity. Many times I personally called BGE to inform them of an outage and their response would be "We are aware of the outage in your area, service people are being dispatched and we hope to have your power restored within a reasonable time.

Water that leaked into an underground substation Wednesday morning caused a power outage at the University of Maryland, Baltimore campus downtown and closed at least 40 academic buildings, canceling classes. By 5:30 p.m., power had been fully restored but the university grounds remained closed because of the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday and Friday, according to Ed Fishel, spokesman. The medical center and doctors clinical offices, which are on a separate power system, were not affected by the outage.

Residents are invited to sit-in as representatives from Constellation Energy/Baltimore Gas and Electric brief Laurel's Emergency Services Commission Thursday night on power outage issues related to Tropical Storm Irene, which hit Laurel in August. The briefing will be held Thursday, Oct. 13 at 7 p.m. in the council chambers at the Laurel Municipal Center, 8103 Sandy Spring Road. For more information, Emergency Operations Director Martin Flemion at 301-725-5300, Ext. 2216.

It's time to bring pressure to resolve reliability issues in Howard County. My neighbors and I on the south end of the Dunloggin neighborhood have a history of numerous and frequent power outages. We believe there are others in Howard County with unreliable service from Baltimore Gas and Electric. We have created a new Facebook site, Reliability4HOCO, and invite all other individuals or groups with reliability issues to share your stories and photos. Let's network together and build a coalition to demand action.

More than a week after Hurricane Irene blew through Maryland, power has been restored to almost all public schools in Baltimore, Baltimore County and Anne Arundel County. In Baltimore County, Winfield Elementary is closed Tuesday because it doesn't have power, and in the city, Lockerman Bundy Elementary is also closed to students, the systems said. Lockerman Bundy staff should report to Mary Ann Winterling Elementary. Irene played havoc with the schedules of educators, parents and students, as schools lost, gained, and in some instances re-lost power from day to day. Text NIGHTLIFE to 70701 to sign up for Baltimore Sun nightlife and music text alerts

As someone who endured a five-day power outage after Hurricane Irene, I am bemused by Bill Alcarese's letter blaming trees for the downed power lines ("As Irene demonstrated, trees have their disadvantages," Sept. 1). The problem is not with the trees but with the power lines, which should be buried underground. Every year, this country loses hundreds of millions of dollars in lost productivity due to downed power lines that shut down businesses and keep people from getting to work.

Baltimore Gas and Electric says it has restored service to all customers who lost power due to Hurricane Irene, except for a few individual outages. "All Irene-related outages were restored by 11:30 p.m. last night," said BGE spokeswoman Linda Foy. Although the BGE website showed nearly 900 customers were without power on Monday morning, Foy says those outages came in after the hurricane. BGE says there may be situations where the utility believes it has restored service but later finds another problem exists.

The following schools will be closed Friday, Sept. 2, due to power outages and the continued effects of Hurricane Irene: Anne Arundel County Marley Glen Special School Baltimore City Guilford Elementary/Middle Note: Digital, Federal Hill, George Washington, Sharp-Leadenhall, Thomas Johnson, and Francis Scott Key are on a one-hour delayed opening due to traffic congestion from the Grand Prix. Baltimore County Chadwick Elementary Dumbarton Middle Fifth District Elementary Fort Garrison Elementary Lansdowne Middle Oakleigh Elementary Parkville Middle Pinewood Elementary Riderwood Elementary Ridgely Middle Stoneleigh Elementary Timonium Elementary Winand Elementary