Power Outages

The recent widespread power outages that left so many sweltering and without communication will ideally become a rallying cry for citizens of the greater DC-Baltimore area to pressure power companies — specifically Pepco and BGE— to underground more of their wires. The area is much more vulnerable than it should be in this regard (My European friends are amazed that so many wires are still above ground here). In an area as developed and high profile as this, it is scandalous that some families are in their sixth day without power.

Angry utility customers have spurred regulators to reconsider whether Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. and its peers can levy small charges to recover lost revenue during the first 24 hours of widespread power outages like those following the June 29 derecho storm. On Thursday, the Maryland Public Service Commission scheduled a hearing for Sept. 24 to discuss a billing mechanism that utilities use to collect only the revenue authorized by the regulatory body. The review will come nine months after the PSC revised the policy because it allowed utilities to charge customers throughout extended outages.

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.

Jack and Betty Scrivener of Stoneleigh lost power last August thanks to Hurricane Irene. They lost it again when storms pummeled the region June 30 — and after one very long, very hot week, the elderly couple still hadn't gotten it back. They don't know if they can take another extended outage. "It'll probably drive us into a retirement home, because I'm 85," Jack Scrivener said Friday afternoon as a generator provided just enough juice for three outlets at their Ridgeleigh Road home.

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.

More than 30,000 customers lost power as a result of the thunderstorms Thursday night, mostly in Baltimore City and Baltimore County, and the majority had service back by late Friday morning, according to BGE Corp. Utility officials said on their web site Friday that they expect to have service restored to the vast majority of BGE customers by Friday night. They warned that additional storms are expected on Friday, and that likely would result in additional power outages to restore.

Baltimore County Public Schools has announced that due to the effects of Friday's storms, 42 of public schools are without power as of Sunday evening and will be closed on Monday, July 2. Summer school does not begin in Baltimore County schools until Monday, July 9, but many have regular administrative offices, and some host programs during the summer months. School officials said that following the storm, 52 county school sites initially had lost power, and many schools, administrative offices, grounds and parking and walking areas were affected by fallen trees and other debris.

Upon receiving word that scientists in Geneva had located the Higgs boson, a subatomic particle considered a basic building block of the universe, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson tweeted: "On the day we reserve to tell ourselves America is great — July 4 — Europe reminds us that we suck at science. " Later, the director of the Hayden Planetarium added, "You just wait Europe, science in America will rise again — some time this millennium. " Sometime this millennium, could we just do something about the power lines?

More than 285,825 Maryland households and businesses remained without power Tuesday morning in the wake of Hurricane Irene, prompting residents and Baltimore's mayor to question the pace of restoration efforts and the governor and utility executives to plead for patience. Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. said Monday that some customers may not have power until late Friday with scattered outages lingering into Saturday. The power outages and transportation snarls continued to have wide-ranging impacts across Maryland after Saturday night's storm.