Wednesday, December 26, 2012
A windy wintry weather pattern leads state officials and BGE to urge caution, preparedness.
The State Highway Administration (SHA) and Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. (BGE) are warning residents that high winds, cold temperatures and icy roads may cause troubles Thursday. The National Weather Service is forecasting freezing rain overnight into Thursday morning as well as fog and temperatures in the mid- to high-30s. Winds are expected to pick up speed into Thursday, when gusts could approach 50 mph. "When you step out and see ice on your doorstep, you can assume that roads will be icy as well," SHA Administrator Melinda Peters said in a statement. Those icy conditions could make rush hour roads dangerous, according to the SHA, so crews will be hitting the streets early. “Stay off the roads early tomorrow morning, so that SHA …
Monday, October 29, 2012
Marylanders without power number 75,000 as Sandy picks up speed and intensity.
Hurricane Sandy is expected to make landfall between 8 and 10 p.m. Monday, Gov. Martin O’Malley said in a 5 p.m. press conference. The number of Maryland residents without power reached 75,000 just after 5 p.m., O’Malley said at Maryland Emergency Management Agency headquarters in Reisterstown. “The storm is becoming stronger in her center with 90 mile an hour winds,” O’Malley said. “The good news is she’s moving faster.” If the storms continue to move fast, it may be in Maryland for a shorter time than the originally predicted 24 to 36 hours, O’Malley said. In addition to power outages, the number of which will increase, the state is monitoring flooding. Five to six inches of rain have already fallen, and another six inches is expected to…
Additionally, bridges will close and early voting tomorrow is canceled, Gov. Martin O’Malley said Monday afternoon.
As Hurricane Sandy arrives in Maryland, more than 24,000 state residents are without power, Gov. Martin O’Malley announced in a press briefing Monday afternoon. “This is a very, very dangerous storm and she is intensifying at her center,” he said. O'Malley reiterated that trees, poles and power lines will be knocked down. “The main message of the day is to hunker down and to stay inside,” he said. In the half-hour prior the briefing, which began just after 2 p.m., the number of Marylanders without power rose from around 1,000 to more than 24,000, O'Malley said at Maryland Emergency Management Agency headquarters in Reisterstown. One person died in a weather-related car crash in Montgomery County around 11:30 a.m. Monday, The Washington …
Gov. Martin O’Malley urged Marylanders to stay inside for the next 36 hours and said the storm will take lives as it moves through Maryland.
Gov. Martin O’Malley said Marylanders will die as Hurricane Sandy moves through the state. “The days ahead are going to be very difficult,” he said in a press conference at Maryland Emergency Management Agency headquarters in Reisterstown Monday morning. “There will be people who will die and are killed in the storm.” He urged residents to stay off the roads and stay inside for the next 24 to 36 hours. High winds are anticipated for the Baltimore-Washington area by the early afternoon, O’Malley said. He expects power outages to start this afternoon and this evening. “There will be many trees that will go down and there will be many power lines that will go down,” he said. The storm has intensified in the past 12 hours, the governor said. “…
Friday, October 26, 2012
BGE officials are mobilizing, you can too.
As Hurricane Sandy lashed Cuba Thursday, weather forecasters predicted its effects could hit the DC/Baltimore metro region by Sunday. Power companies said they were gearing up for possible outages. The Category 2 hurricane has already killed 21 throughout the Caribbean, according to NPR, and it could merge with a strong cold front in this area to create what The Washington Post's Jason Samenow called a potential "powerhouse." Sign up for the Ellicott City Patch newsletter for breaking news alerts as the storm approaches. Although the storm's path has not yet been confirmed, most predictions say it will travel up the southeast coast and make landfall in the mid-Atlantic. The Post's Capital Weather Gang is suggesting the storm may slam the …
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
The council is asking the state to look into residents' complaints about reliability.
The scope of a state investigation into BGE may soon get bigger. The Howard County Council Monday night passed a resolution to submit a petition adding more than a dozen neighborhoods to an investigation currently underway into the utility's service in Ellicott City. Read more about BGE's reliability in Ellicott City. Currently, the Public Service Commission (PSC) is investigating BGE's reliability in Font Hill, Dunloggin, Valley Mede and several nearby neighborhoods after Cathy Eshmont in February filed a petition with signatures from more than the required 100 residents. An investigation can also be initiated by local legislative authorities. Courtney Watson (D-Elliciott City) sponsored the resolution asking the PSC to investigate …
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
The approaching weather looks hazardous, according to the National Weather Service.
Strong showers and thunderstorms are on the way, according to the National Weather Service (NWS), and they may bring with them additional severe weather. In its hazardous weather statement, NWS warns that the approaching storms may cause localized flash flooding, damaging winds and even isolated tornadoes. NWS issued a tornado watch for eastern and central Maryland counties at 10:55 a.m. this morning. The worst of the storms is expected Tuesday afternoon – sometime between noon and 6 p.m., according to NWS. In a statement issued Tuesday morning, Baltimore Gas and Electric Company (BGE) wrote that wind gusts could damage overhead and underground equipment, causing power outages. "As BGE and our field crews prepare to respond to weather-…
Friday, September 14, 2012
But at a hearing with the PSC, the chief executive officer supported the utility's decision to withhold information from officials to protect customers' privacy.
The chief executive officer of BGE told the state’s utilities regulator on Thursday that the only way to shorten the length of major power outages would be to have a “very different delivery system,” the Baltimore Sun reports. BGE CEO Kenneth W. DeFontes Jr. was speaking at a Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) hearing, scheduled after more than 760,000 Maryland residents lost power in the wake of the late-June derecho storm. At the hearing, which is standard procedure after “major outage events,” DeFontes reportedly told regulators that BGE would need to bury some power lines–and more aggressively trim trees–to prevent more long-term outages. After June’s derecho, customers who lost power were in the dark for an average of 38 hours…
Monday, August 27, 2012
The councilmember says there are other pockets of people experiencing reliability problems.
Howard County Councilmember Courtney Watson will introduce legislation next week asking the state to investigate BGE’s reliability in Ellicott City. Her request comes on the heels of an investigation into BGE initiated by Cathy Eshmont, an Ellicott City resident who has led a grassroots effort to fix what she has referred to as unreliable service in certain Ellicott City neighborhoods. Since Eshmont’s request was granted by the Public Service Commission (PSC), “There have been other addresses who have come forward with issues,” Watson said. “Cathy has been working hard on finding little pockets.” These new “little pockets” where residents say they, too, have reliability issues, are the areas that will be addressed in the legislation …
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Money from a rate increase will not be used for new work, but BGE will continue to update infrastructure, spokesman said.
A rate adjustment requested by BGE will mostly cover work that the utility company has already performed, according to a spokesman. “In Maryland, that’s the way it works,” BGE Spokesman Rob Gould said. “You spend the money and then you go back to the [Public Service] Commission and you ask them for recovery of the costs that you incurred.” BGE announced Friday evening that it had filed a request with the Public Service Commission (PSC) for a rate hike that, according to the utility, would add an additional $7.22 to the “typical” customer’s electric bill. There are a few places where BGE will use some of the money going forward, Gould said, including vegetation maintenance. He could not say if the money would specifically be used for …
NoPower
2:40 pm on Thursday, December 27, 2012
Just what we all need. Advice from BGE. Fix the decades long outage problems first!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! then we'll talk. more ›