Power Outages

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.

Storm forecasters have raised the region's chances for damaging winds Tuesday afternoon and evening, with heavy rain and storms in the forecast, prompting utilities and schools to brace for severe weather. A tornado watch is in effect for a long stretch of the mid-Atlantic, from North Carolina to the Mason-Dixon Line, including most of Maryland. All of the Baltimore area is included in the watch, which signals that conditions are expected to be ripe for tornadoes to form. It remains in effect until 7 p.m. Rainfall totals could be about 2 inches, with about an 80 percent chance of showers in the morning and a 100 percent chance of rain and storms in the evening.

After two massive, widespread, multi-day power outages in less than a year and thousands of complaints from angry customers left in the dark, literally and figuratively, it can now safely be said that Baltimore Gas & Electric Co. gets it. Company officials testified before the Public Service Commission last week that they are strategically hardening the system and asking the big questions about what it would take to redesign the entire grid to promote...

Maryland energy regulators were set to meet Thursday morning to review utilities' response to the more than 1 million power outages in the state caused by a derecho storm June 29. Officials with Baltimore Gas and Electric Co., Pepco and other utilities were scheduled to appear before the Public Service Commission at a 10 a.m. hearing. The hearing follows opportunities given across the state last month for members of the public to share their concerns with commissioners. The hearings are part of commissioners' efforts to determine whether BGE and other utilities acted appropriately in cleaning up and repairing after the storm, which brought damaging 70 mph winds across the state.

Thunderstorms moving across Maryland on Saturday afternoon cut power to more than 20,000 Baltimore Gas & Electric Co. customers and prompted closures on the Bay Bridge. Anne Arundel and Prince George's counties, where the National Weather Service issued tornado warnings during the late afternoon, suffered the most outages. BGE spokesman Rob Gould said the southern part of the company's coverage area "clearly took the brunt of it. " Gould said high winds seemed to be the chief culprit.

Gov. Martin O'Malley's administration launched an effort Tuesday to limit the extended power outages that have troubled Marylanders in recent months, but industry experts warned that any solution could require significant costs and trade-offs. Montgomery County Councilman Roger Berliner said it was an outrage that reliability in Maryland doesn't match that of some countries, where a year's worth of outages are measured in a matter of minutes. "Power outages have become the No. 1 threat to our quality of life," said Berliner, a member of a new gubernatorial task force on electricity reliability.

National Weather Service officials have not confirmed any tornado touchdowns in the Baltimore area from Tuesday night, but reports of gumball-sized hail and torrential rains and flooding are piling up. The weather service's Sterling, Va., office is in the process of exploring areas of two tornado warnings, meteorologist Heather Sheffield said. The first was issued about 8:50 p.m. in an area that included Owings Mills, Pikesville, Roland Park and Towson; it expired 25 minutes later.

A Baltimore City woman and Montgomery County man have been added to the tally of heat-related deaths this summer, bringing the total to 40. That makes this summer's heat the deadliest since 2005, according to state health officials. The fatalities were reported in a weekly update from state health officials released Tuesday. The deaths occurred earlier this summer but were just confirmed as heat-related in the past week. The casualties surpassed the total from 2006, when 39 heat-related deaths were confirmed.

About a dozen Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. customers, consumer advocates and a City Councilwoman faulted the utility Tuesday for lack of preparation before and poor communication after a derecho storm struck the region in June. At a Baltimore public hearing on the utility's storm response, a crowd repeated concerns that BGE officials didn't provide them with an estimated time their power would be restored. Others questioned why the utility hadn't cut back mature trees to prevent branches from knocking out power lines — to which BGE officials responded by pointing to recent efforts at more aggressive trimming.

Baltimore Gas and Electric Co.customers will get opportunities this week to air concerns about extended power outages that followed the deadly derecho storm of June 29. Hearings will be at 7 p.m. each night Monday through Thursday, in the following locations: The joint hearing room of the Department of Legislative Services building, 90 State Circle in Annapolis, on Monday; The Paul C. Wolman Assembly room of the War Memorial Building, 101...