Blog: Derecho Outage Customers Lost $47.1 Million in Spoiled Food

During the Derecho which struck the region on June 29, 2012, many folks are interested in just how much spoiled food occurred as a result of the weeklong outage.

While some readers may well have saved receipts for food purchased, it can be a somewhat problematic task to determine "additionally", i.e., was the food purchased "additional" to what the consumer had in stock, or was the purchase a regular outlay the household would've paid for anyway?

Here's a shortcut to determine how much food was spoiled. Last year, during Irene, the State of Connecticut estimated that the average spoilage amount was $62 (see the courant.com link [from the Hartford Courant], paragraph 6).

http://articles.courant.com/2011-09-09/business/hc-spoiled-food-assistance-0910-20110909_1_food-stamps-nutrition-service-supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program

Connecticut made this calculation for its food stamp recipients, but there's no reason why this metric wouldn't apply to any homeowner who last power.

During the Derecho, 760,000 BGE customers lost power for as long as 8 1/2 days, according to BGE's Storm Report filed with the Maryland Public Service Commission on July 30, 2012, under Case No. 9298 (click on the link below, then input "9298" in the "case search" box, and then when a menu of entries appears, look for jacket # 18 on July 30, 2012; that's BGE's Storm Report; click on that link, two files will pop up; the upper file is the one you want [the lower file is a cover letter]; once the pdf file comes up, go to windows page 3, last paragraph)

http://webapp.psc.state.md.us/Intranet/Casenum/CaseAction_new.cfm?RequestTimeout=500?

Now, do the math: $62 x 760,000 = $47,120,000.

Based on the numbers herein, customers who lost power, thus, have a claim on BGE for $62 each to pay them for spoiled food. 

While we're at it, why not also do the same for Irene, too. Using the same method above w/ the PSC link, this time input "9279" in the "case search" box, and then pick jacket # 5 from the menu. That's BGE's Storm Report from Irene. Click on the link, and choose the upper file. Go to windows page 4, paragraph 2.

Based on its Irene Storm Report, 750,000 BGE customers lost power in that event. The arithmetic on Irene's spoilage comes to: $62 x 750,000 = $46,500,000.

The combined spoilage total from Irene and the Derecho is $93,620,000.

The Public Service Commission ought to  direct BGE to credit those ratepayers- who lost power- $62 for each event. For those customers impacted by both storms, the credit would be 2 x $62, or $124. The PSC has heretofore refused to order any such reimbursements by BGE. Therefore, ratepayers should call upon the Commission to reverse course, and demand that the PSC require BGE to make the affected customers whole as indicated herein.