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What i don't understand is why people are given estimates??
yes its an estimate but if you take away that estimate after it was due all it
gives is false hope. Yesterday morning our estimate was Tuesday night 8pm.
its getting close to Wednesday 8pm and still no power.
neighbours across the street got theirs back on Monday night.

don't get me wrong the crews outside are doing a awesome job,
but give estimates you can achieve or don't give them.

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Antonie,

We hear you, and if you were given an incorrect estimate that should not have happened. We have been very cautious about giving estimates during this storm because the damage is so extensive and crews may find additional work that must be completed on a particular job. When that happens, customers’ restoration estimates shift and that only compounds the inconvenience and builds frustration.

The definition of insanity is performing the same task repeatedly and expecting a different result. For this reason, I wonder at the time I am investing in this comment. Where is the regular tree trimming we were promised? Where is the investment in R&D that would obviate this situation?

These blogs are better than a sharp stick in the eye. They show us you really care. I especially appreciate all the photos of BGE crews hard at work since we have yet to see a single truck in our neighborhood other than the sole dangling power line watchperson team in an air-conditioned vehicle.

We have 90 year olds, a severe asthmatic, a postoperative cardiac patient, a debilitated rheumatoid arthritis patient and various other wonderful people who have not had power for 6 days. Most importantly, we all pay our bills on time or early.

Why do we lose power in every storm? Why do only the most rural locales get restored later than we do? Why has the same tree been blamed for our past three power outages and has yet to be removed? We are in the heart of Columbia, MD, or as the BGE customer service reps like to say, "The grid of 38," and we have yet to hear a restoration time.

I have been in the field of customer service for over 20 years, and this is unacceptable. Not only should customer service work to respond, it should also resolve the problem and provide monetary credit for the hardship. Although a blog response will be eagerly anticipated, action is what we expect and what we have paid for each and every month.

Thank you for your time. We look forward to power restoration in 21046, including Amherst, Beechwood, Hackberry and Maple.

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Ten Percent,

In the near term we know that power restoration is the action you want, which is why we are working as quickly as is safely possible to get through the remaining outages caused by this severe impact storm. Longer term, we have made significant investments in infrastructure to improve reliability, including vegetation management, as well as new technologies, such as the advanced meters that will aid in faster identification of outages and confirmation of successful repairs.

I was wondering why it is so difficult to get straight answers on this blog. I have seen the same questions being asked repeatedly with no answer given. I know BGE is proud of their work which is why your smiling profile was posted. I along with my neighbors are still without power on Walnut Ave, 21206. How can you have all of these extra out of state workers dedicated to less than 70,000 customers at this point and things are slower than ever? We are going into day 6 with temperatures hotter than ever. For 3 days, I have been calling to get an update on my ETR. The recording, not a person thanks me for reporting my outage. Many have mentioned this error. Why isn't it fixed? You can't fix my power in a timely manner, you won't fix the computer glitch and you won't give straight answers...but this is considered open dialogue. Please tell me where things stand for my street. This is unacceptable to not know anything. Dots on a map in this technological age is dated. We should be able to see by zipcodes the number of people without power and what stage the neighborhood is in. Is the neighborhood pending an assessment, are crews scheduled, is it a tree situation or a transformer...knowing the status from that perspective is far more effective then people and computers making up ETRs. Jeannette, I am pleading with you to give me more than the public relations' quotes. At the end of the day that's really not good public relations. I look forward to hearing an informative response with new and relevant information. Thank you!

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Christy L.,

We are not able to provide you with a specific timeframe when your power will be restored, given the complexity of the work. We are making steady progress on the restoration effort and we are sorry for any inconvenience it has caused to not know when your power will be back online. This has been the result of the extensive damage and the fact that repair crews may find additional damage or other conditions that cause the repairs to take longer than expected. Rather than give inaccurate information, we have been asking customers to prepare for the possibility of their outage lasting into the coming weekend.

I would like to thank the crew from Mississippi who restored my power last night. They truly are my knights in shining armor. From the bottom of my heart (and all of my pets), thank you!!!!!!!

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Beth,

We also greatly appreciate the crews from Mississippi and 14 other states and Canada who have been critical in this recovery from the severe impact storm.

I would like to have statistics on how many powerline balls physically went down/cracked it pieces due to this "Dereco" storm event?

Open dialogue?! Ha! We live on the lone street in Glen Dale, MD without power. Glenn Dale appeared on the crew work location site list on Monday and everyone's power was restored in the area but ours. After repeated dead end attempts to speak to a real human through your "very helpful" automated system we finally got through and the customer service agent replied "oh we thought we already restored your power, hmmm...". Since then we are still waiting in a hot and humid home. Your generic twitter replies to select comments do not help and it feels awful to see numerous celebratory messages about how you've restored power to a majority of your customers. What? Do we just not count? Now that your numbers have dwindled to "insignificant" amounts you should look into providing more personalized service to the remixing few people who are still without power.

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Tammi F.

Approximately 4,600 field and support forces are actively engaged in completing the restoration of secondary lines and associated equipment servicing smaller groups of customers. Once addressed, BGE will focus on repairs that are specific to an individual customer’s home or business. This work is often time-consuming, as in many cases, BGE is unable to determine the exact size and cause of an outage until crews arrive on the scene and make a complete assessment of the damage. As the company completes these repairs, customer involvement is crucial. If you are still without power, but your neighbors have been restored, you should report your outage by calling 1-877-778-2222, as equipment damage may exist beyond the initial repair that BGE is not aware of.

Thursday morning and entering our 6th day without power. I live in an older section of Columbia with above ground lines. We expect to be one of last to have power restored as this has historically always been the case. Thank you to the BGE and out of state crews for all you are doing.

My question is, why, whenever I call the 877 number to check on the status of the outage repair, the only message I get is " thank you for reporting your outage"? The website says you only have to report your outage once, but based on this message I am getting, it sounds like our outage is not being reported or is being wiped from the record every day. Others have told me they have received "estimated time of restoration" messaged when calling to check the status. Can someone shed some light on this for me? Thanks.

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John,

In the case of most summer or winter storms that cause outages, we regularly provide accurate estimated times of restoration (ETR) within a reasonable period. You can call our automated outage reporting system and check back for ETRs and updates. But, with storms that cause severe and widespread damage, like the June 29 “derecho” system or last summer’s hurricane, giving accurate regional and customer-specific restoration times can be extremely challenging.

We want to be able to give you an exact time when power will be restored, and we know you’re counting on it to make plans. When we can’t provide an ETR, it’s inconvenient and frustrating. What we can do is to explain the challenges created by severe impact storms that cause hundreds of thousands of outages, snap utility poles, uproot trees and snarl miles of wires.

Here's a list of crew work locations for today. http://www.bge.com/customerservice/stormsoutages/stormcenter/pages/crew-work-locations.aspx We appreciate your understanding that our crews are working as safely and quickly as possible to restore your electricity.

How about holding off patting yourselves on the back here until ALL of your customers have been restored. I don't really give a flip about seeing crews at work - I know what they're doing, so all of this here is just propoganda to make you all feel good. I am beginning my 6th day without power in area (Maryland City/Russett) of western Anne Arundel County where all, repeat ALL commercial establishments have had power since last Sunday morning, yet a small group of us residential customers are still dark. As far as I'm concerned, you all get an F in my grade book for your performance and your inability to provide more specific information. We don't need to hear the canned responses. We need to know how much longer we will have to wait. "As soon as possible" doesn't cut it anymore. Not that it will make any difference, but I am located in the 3300 block of Old Annapolis Road (20724-2269), and there are 6-8 of us in this block that still do not have power. Target, Wal-Mart, Shopper's Food Warehouse, and the Starting Gate liquor store and bar all have been up and back to normal since Sunday. You can say all you want, but I'm convinced that BGE's priorities concerning restoration of power are skewed in favor of the commercial customers, since they pay more each month for their electricity, and probably have lobbyists pressuring your corporate office honchos to do so.

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Donald Street,

We understand that customers who are still out of power feel the strain and frustration of living without electricity as each day goes by. Because of the widespread hurricane-like damage, the cause of your outage may not be directly on your street. In many cases, when crews arrive on the scene they encounter significantly more damage than previously reported. There are often hidden issues, such as situations where we find damage to a line that serves a single customer or small group of customers, after we've fixed the feeder that we expected to restore service to their area.

Even if you don’t see crews working on your street, they may be repairing damage elsewhere in an effort to restore electricity to your community.

We have provided information on some of the areas where crews will be working today on our website, http://www.bge.com/customerservice/stormsoutages/stormcenter/pages/crew-work-locations.aspx. If you do not see your area listed, please know that it is not an inclusive list. We will be actively restoring power in each and every area where BGE has customers, until all our customers have been restored.

First it was 8:30p.m. on July 4th, then it was 6:30 p.m. on July 5th, and now nothing in the system of when they are going to come back out to finish the work when there are over 700 people affected. Seniors and pets are struggling. The Glenmont community needs help now!


To Whom It May Concern:
My parents have been a resident of the Glenmont community living on Queens Ferry Road since 2001. As long as I can remember, this community has been plagued with electricity outages yearly due to the trees that need to be pruned. I thought that BG&E was handling the pruning of those trees on a yearly basis however it has come to my attention that pruning was not performed. As of today, July 3, 2012, the grid who according to BG&E have a little over 700 persons, are still without the power, with no anticipated date of restoration. According to Ms. Reed today, BG&E does not have any update from the construction crews in their system and as I have seen two crews one on Saturday and the other yesterday some notation should have been made by this time. My mother, a recent widow, and has worked in Baltimore City Public Schools as a paraprofessional for over 20 years does not receive a steady paycheck during the summer months. It is more than deplorable that there are no emergency funds available for her to recoup the spoiled food due to the fact she is not considered low income per the Baltimore County guidelines to receive food stamp assistance on a regular basis.
Due to these extreme circumstances, allowances should be made to replace her food especially since she owns two refrigerators which included items to celebrate my sister’s birthday and the 4th of July holiday. My mother and the dog have to endure these extreme temperatures. If the State has determined that there should be a lack of resources for those who are NOT on financial assistance, then BG&E and the State needs to figure out a way to provide financial resources for these “special” situations. This Act of God that could not even had been predicted from the meteorologists to the National Weather Service, and should be considered extreme unlike a Hurricane. It has been termed a derecho. According to Maryland history, the state has not experienced a derecho and this could be classified as uncommon. This extreme and uncommon event should yield some extreme and uncommon assistance. Some agency, Federal agency, MEMA, another State entity, BG&E, or private should be able to provide financial resources to all who have suffered. The lack of care that has been shown concerning this matter is subpar, and I find that the reports of those who have been restored in the State as well as in the Baltimore County area are conflicting from news channel to channel as well as from the BG&E website. I have been monitoring the restoration numbers since July 2, 2012 from the moment I get to work to the end of my business day, those numbers seem to fluctuate significantly and usually by the end of the day those numbers those numbers are as high as the beginning of the day.
Maybe the fireworks display that usually is held at the school near the Giant across the street on the 4th of July (that is usually enjoyed by many Glenmont residents) may not be attended. I am sure the 700+ residents along with others in the area would with prefer their electricity restored instead of lighting show in the sky. I think we saw enough of that on June 29, 2012, and according news reports another storm may be on its’ way. I am hoping we do not go further down on the list if new outages occur due to a storm today or the rest of the week. I understand every company has a protocol that needs to be followed for a successful restoration, however there should be consideration for a cross directional process that improve the efficiency for restoration.
I will be awaiting a response and hope to speak with someone from your offices soon. My preferred method to be reached is via cell phone at ***-***-****. I would give you my mother’s number but she is very distraught over this matter and the land line does not work because FIOS that has been sold to many in the area is disrupted due to the lack of power.
Thank you,
Teneshia Richards

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Taneshia Richards,

A BGE representative will contact you at the email address and number you provided in the original blog post. Your number has been removed from the live post for security reasons.

How does this work for our bill? will it be pro-rated like when you turn your service on? and what about the money for lost food because of power for 6 days!!! as a single mother that is a huge loss for me and many others too.

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Six Days Now,

We know that customers who are still out of power feel the strain and frustration of living without electricity as each day goes by. We do not provide reimbursements for food spoilage. However, the USDA site contains helpful tips for keeping food safe in extended outages http://1.usa.gov/106LU. We appreciate your patience and understanding, as we continue to work around-the-clock to restore power.

My power is back on. My concern isn't about repair but about prevention. It is absolutely guaranteed that we will continue to see situations that bring down power for millions of people every year. Why are we using 19th century technology (electrical transmission via overhead power lines was first accomplished in the 1880s) to meet the needs of a 21st century population? It's not just about the millions of people you leave sweltering in dangerously hot weather. Think of the millions of dollars your shareholders would eventually save if you invested in the infrastructure to deliver electricity via buried cables. I fully concur with Dan Rodricks in his column in today's Sun. I get that its expensive. But so is rapairing downed lines. Where does BGE and Constellation Energy stand on eliminating this problem?

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Carolyn,

Not many people realize that we actually have more buried lines (~16,000 circuit miles) than overhead lines (~9,000 circuit miles). New construction since 1970 has been served with underground lines. We are focused on reliability measures and the solutions must be affordable ratepayers. Numerous sources have determined that burying lines Additionally, when underground lines fail or are damaged—lightning strikes and errant excavation are causes—repairs generally take longer.

Our power has been restored and we are very grateful! We know it has been a difficult time for BGE's crews and customers. The crews work long hours in the heat and risking their lives trimming trees and removing debris. We are praying for the families of the workers who recently lost their lives trying to restore power to thousands of customers. We pray that God will comfort those families as they deal with the untimely death of a loved one. We pray for continued success and protection for the crew members as they work hard to restore power to all of their customers. Thank you again for your dedication. May God bless you!

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S. Ware,

Thank you for this very welcome message. Our workers – both in the field and in the office – have been working around-the-clock under extremely difficult conditions and they will not quit until every last customer has been restored to service.

As a mother of a BGE employee, sister to another employee and an Aunt to another I KNOW how hard these individuals worked to get everyone restored as quickly as possible. The days started and ended after 16 hours in 100 degree weather with NO air conditioned vehicles and wearing rubber protective equipment to ensure they survived the restoration process as quickly as possible. I can't speak to how people, who were out for numberous days, dealt with it as I was not impacted long term but I think it's important to realize that everyone at BGE and support teams did everything humanly possible to ensure quick resotration. I'd like to leave it that at least we all have homes to live in and return to, unlike the folks of Colorado who lost everything due to Mother Nature, which is exactly what we dealt with...Mother Nature. Thank you for doing the best that you could with what you had to deal with. It's never comforting to be without the ammenities we've become used to and need to live.
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Thank you for your kind words. We'll pass this on to the crews and support teams.