Power Outages

Widespread power outages brought by the storm last week have renewed calls for proactive tree trimming by BGE ("Feeling powerless," July 3). However, my observation is that BGE's past tree trimming practices have produced more harm than good. Several years ago BGE sent crews to trim trees in my neighborhood alongside power lines that follow a stream. The trees were healthy at the time, but the crews managed to spread a disease (oak wilt fungus) that attacks oak trees, and within a couple of years many of the large oaks along the stream had died.

Pepco's response to the recent storm is indicative of how unprepared the company continues to be in situations that require timely and efficient operation ("Feeling powerless," July 3). The storm hit on a Friday evening, but apparently Pepco got next to nothing accomplished on Saturday and Sunday. The lack of communication and informational updates has been appalling. Pepco customers deserve better. To tell the public and the news media that it could take a week or more to restore service to 90 percent of customers shows a lack of care and inefficiency.

Baltimore-area power outages have dipped below 10,000, more than a week after a powerful storm knocked out electric service for to more than 600,000 customers. Baltimore County remains the hardest-hit, with more than 4,000 outages, and Baltimore City has about 2,000 customers in the dark on one of the hottest days of the year, according to Baltimore Gas & Electric Co. Temperatures could approach a record-breaking high of 105 degrees.  “We know we have customers who have been without power for several days and truly understand what a strain this is. We cannot and will not rest until we have restored their power,” Jeannette Mills, vice president and chief customer officer for BGE, said in a statement.

The extended power outages for Baltimore Gas and Electric customers are a symptom of the decline of this country. When I was growing up in the 1970s in Northern Virginia, we never lost power for a week. Not when we received two feet of snow. Not even during Tropical Storm Agnes. My neighborhood in Howard County has been without power for 13 days within the last year due to three separate storms. What's changed? The change is that the focus of business has shifted. The only reason for BGE to exist now is to produce as much profit for it's parent corporation as possible.

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.

Generating a solution to power outages With all the crazy weather lately, I'm worried that a big storm or deep freeze could leave us without power for a few days. Even if the worst doesn't happen, I want to be prepared. I know there are different kinds of generators out there — which type is best for a home? Disasters aside, a generator can be handy even for short outages; nobody likes throwing away spoiled milk! You essentially have two choices: an automatic standby model or a portable gasoline generator.

I had to laugh at your epic-length editorial on the subject of Baltimore's power outages ("Feeling powerless," July 3). It exemplified the frustration of city dwellers with BGE for leaving them high and dry after the freak storm that passed through Baltimore. It's not often that Baltimore suffers a loss of electricity for days at a time. Not so where I live, however. It happens so frequently here in Harford County that most of us have become well-schooled in the art of patiently waiting for our electricity to be restored.

In this morning's paper there was an article entitled "Baltimore grocers, restaurants cope with power outage losses" (July 2), on the economic impact Friday night's storm had on area businesses. After a major storm, The Baltimore Sun and local television news outlets inevitably have stories on the financial burden the storm has to the state, BGE and local businesses. You never carry stories about the financial burden the storm has on the citizens who lose electricity for an extended period of time.

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.