Pepco: Power Restoration Could Take Until Sunday
Some residents still left in the dark and heat nearly a week after Friday's damaging derecho storm.
It may take until Sunday to restore some remaining power outages in Montgomery County, according to Pepco.
Nearly a week after Friday’s violent storm, 17,200 remained in the dark in the county Thursday, with concentrations near Bethesda, Potomac, Rockville, Silver Spring and Wheaton, according to Pepco Spokesman Clay Anderson.
By Wednesday, the utility had achieved 90 percent restoration – a number initially projected to take until Friday night.
Thursday, Pepco had reached 98 percent restoration, and expected to be “very close to 100 percent” by Friday, Anderson said.
“Overwhelmingly, our customers have been restored,” Anderson said. “But that in no way diminishes our efforts. In fact, it accelerates them, because we want everyone to be restored.”
The projections, however, come as little comfort to some families who say they’re still out of power and have been given an estimated restoration time of Sunday by Pepco.
“I was really holding out hope for a Friday restore date but that seems to be off the table now,” wrote Bethesda resident Laura Arbelaez Shure in an email to Patch.
Her home in the 20814 ZIP code has been given an estimated restoration time of 11 p.m. Sunday, she said. Shure wrote that she’s watched with frustration as the status of her outage restoration changed from “crew assigned” to “no crew assigned” twice.
“If it were just my husband and me we'd be fine (well, maybe not quite fine), but with a 4-year-old AND this heat, it makes things much harder,” Shure wrote.
Potomac resident Brenda Serna-Johns, who said she has also been given a Sunday estimated restoration time, wrote in an e-mail to Patch that her family has been using a makeshift outhouse in the backyard.
“Being in a well that is powered only by electricity means no water, and no water means no toilets, showers or anything that we always take for granted,” Serna-Johns wrote. “Today I took my kids to the sports and health club which I'm the only member and they were nice to let us all take showers.”
A Patch reader reported that every home on Aspen Avenue in Takoma Park remained out of power, and residents there were also given an estimated restoration time of 11 p.m. Sunday.
The later restoration times for some families are due to “the individual restoration situation, based on the amount of damage to that individual customer’s supply,” Anderson said. “While it may not be a feeder per se, it could be wires, trees, re-construction of poles, different things that have to be done for those few customers.”
Anderson encouraged families still without power to check back with Pepco, adding that restoration could come earlier than Sunday, the “latest” time power is projected to be restored.
“We’re trying to get everyone back by Sunday, absolutely,” Anderson said.
But local officials continue to push Pepco to get the job done faster, The Gazette reported this week.
“People are pissed,” Councilman Marc B. Elrich (D-At large) of Takoma Park, told The Gazette. “People don't understand why it is taking this long.”
Jerry A. McCoy
3:16 pm on Thursday, July 5, 2012
I feel so bad for these folks whose power is still out...
S.P. O'Neil
3:17 pm on Thursday, July 5, 2012
In Silver Spring district, on Homecrest Road, there are two nursing homes and several ninety year old residents of private homes, who have not had power restored. This was called in as a priority and as of Thursday morning there still is no power.
Del. Sam Arora
4:09 pm on Thursday, July 5, 2012
SP O'Neil - I believe my office heard from Rep Van Hollen's office that Homecrest House's power was restored yesterday. Can you contact me if that is incorrect?
-Delegate Sam Arora
S.P. O'Neil
4:53 pm on Thursday, July 5, 2012
I just called to check again, the power has come on.
Thank you!
Adriana Buonantuono Threlkeld
4:18 pm on Thursday, July 5, 2012
We are in Montgomery Village and all of our neighbors around us have power. Our section of about 6 houses has been without power since Friday. They turned it on for an hour on Saturday and then we never got it back. A crew hasn't even been assigned to us. Online it says the cause of the outage is 'unknown'. Really? Unknown??
PATTI AGUILAR
4:32 pm on Thursday, July 5, 2012
I live on emory grove road in gaithersburg and am still without power. The upper part of our road is fine but we seem to have been forgotten. Today was the first time i have even seen any pepco trucks out...unfortunately south of here.
Carleton MacDonald
12:08 am on Friday, July 6, 2012
The problem was on Grover Road where two trees that came down on low voltage lines caused the pole to move just enough to disconnect the high voltage line from its insulator. It sagged onto a ground wire. Were it possible to isolate Grover Road from Emory Grove Road, the latter would have had power back several days ago. It got fixed and as of 10:33 pm Thursday the lights (and more importantly, the air conditioning) is back on.
Jim Turnure
4:37 pm on Thursday, July 5, 2012
Power still out for us and neighbors on Bedfordshire Avenue in Potomac. With a 2 and 5 year old we just can't stay in the house without power. Now to hear "by Friday" turn into "by Sunday"....what's next???
Amanda
4:55 pm on Thursday, July 5, 2012
Be thankful you're alive! Montgomery county was definitely hit harder than other parts of the state. In my neighborhood (grosvenor by Fleming park), there was a tree that had fallen on a roof and the to for others that were completely uprooted. Not to mention the countless branches that came down. The storm did some serious damage and its a miracle more people were not killed! Be grateful for what your do have and cut Pepco some slack as they have called in additional crews and have been working non stop since the storm ended.
Joe Thomas
5:00 pm on Thursday, July 5, 2012
I had the chance to drive around the west side of Bethesda today. I was amazed at the destruction. Huge trees across roads, tress on houses, some streets impassable, I could go on but its really bad.
Joe Thomas
5:01 pm on Thursday, July 5, 2012
I might add that I saw Florida Power & Electric and an Indiana utility working back in the neighborhoods.
Jean
12:02 am on Friday, July 6, 2012
Pretoria Drive Silver Spring, MD is still without power 7 days after the storm. The most frustrating part is Pepco's customer facing service. Until today we have not been able to talk to a person, the mobile app does not work, and there is no way to provide information to help crews fix the problem; our problem is a blown fuse.
macadoodle
12:17 am on Friday, July 6, 2012
Don't understand why Mont County whose officials are constantly touting the quality of life in this area fails so miserably when it comes to a crisis such as the recent massive power outage. This calls for a rapid reevaluation of the first responder system now operative in the area. Why must crews from FL or IN be imported to help in a situation where outages such as this become an overwhelming burden to county residents? Is there a prioritization mechanism for power restoration in place? Our 12-story condo in Kensington which has a hefty percentage of senior citizens had its owners higher than the 6th floor essentially stranded for 4 days while single-family dwellings less than a block away had electricity restored fairly quickly. In addition, a close-by senior citizen/handicapped building also suffered the same fate. The PEPCO service center closed at 2pm even in the face of this crisis. Calls to a crisis center went unanswered because of the flood of communications. Computers for contact purposes were useless because of no electricity. Rather than the usual PEPCO bashing and angry posturing by the legislators at press conferences, citizen/county/legislative task forces should be mobilized to sit down with PEPCO to assess why thunderstorms & snowstorms bring all aspects of life to a screeching halt in one of the richest and most-taxes counties in the country.
macadoodle
12:20 am on Friday, July 6, 2012
Correction to above comment: Rather than the usual PEPCO bashing and angry posturing by the legislators at press conferences, citizen/county/legislative task forces should be mobilized to sit down with PEPCO to assess why thunderstorms & snowstorms bring all aspects of life to a screeching halt in one of the richest and most-taxed counties in the country.
George Karadimas
3:28 pm on Friday, July 6, 2012
You ain't seen nothing yet.
Wait until the SMART Meters are Fully rolled out and operational.
"
Why Smart Meters Might Be a Dumb Idea
Smart meters are supposed to help to give you more control over your energy use. But many experts doubt that you’ll ever see the electricity and cost savings that electric companies and smart-meter manufacturers tout."
http://www.consumersdigest.com/special-reports/why-smart-meters-might-be-a-dumb-idea";
Next time you have a Power utility related problem, you will be talking with a representative based on TIM-BOK-TU (in English of course.)
George Karadimas
8:20 pm on Friday, July 6, 2012
Frank you said "George - PEPCO's disaster response and the location of their call centers have nothing to do with smart meters. Could you please drop your strange obsession for just one moment?"
Frank, Strange obsession MY FOOT!
One can only extrapolate from experience in other utilities like the telcos and Cable companies. Is it not true when you computer chat and in many instances that you call, a "Utility" Representative, you end ups communicating with a FOREIGN based representative, that in many instances is NOT EVEN AWARE of the grid/network problem that you are trying to get help with!
Is it not true, that the Utility Industry drive is to AUTOMATE, COMPUTERIZE and Maximize the Bottom line Profit?
How is one to infer that PEPCO Smart meter Roll out, will somehow be different?
With the recent storm outage, we are experience the problem regarding response time with the SKELETON repair staff on hand and extending the recovery time, until repair teams arrive from utilities as far as Florida.
bean Counters are running the Utilities now, and the ratepayer has been reduced to a managed resource of the Utility instead of a Paying Customer.
WAKE UP...Smart meters have ONLY that purpose (Utility Profitability) and Nothing Else.
bbb
10:21 am on Friday, July 6, 2012
PEPCO does not care about "ANY THING" you or i have to say...NOR do they care what "STATE and CONUTY" hav to say...ITS about the "BONUS MONEY" and believe me PEPCO higher ups r "REALLY TICK" right now ...NOT because of us the customer's or "STATE and COUNTY" coming down on them....The longer they have to keep "OUTTA STATE/COUNTY" lineman/tree trimming crews the lower their "BONUS MONEY" is...Do you'all get it now ???? Hope sooooo cause this is what's it about and it should b "OUTLAW" and given to the "Man an Woman" that really keep us with electric power.
macadoodle
11:38 am on Friday, July 6, 2012
Salute the rank-and-file PEPCO work crews out there trying their best to get the power on for the thousands of customers in the County. Funds including all bonuses for the next 3 years should be frozen for the bureaucrats until an investigation determines where the money is actually going. Instead, take the money from the managers in what looks like a bloated bureaucracy and strengthen the actual work force especially PEPCO workers on the front lines. Invest in better equipment. Institute a new phone and customer service line which will pinpoint the problems. And during the crisis, extend customer service hours beyond 2pm and bring the people in over the weekend if necessary.
bryanna
12:46 pm on Friday, July 6, 2012
my husband has been working non stop sinve saturday to put the power bck on for everyone and no one is grateful. i understand the heat is hell but it is also for the guys putting the power back on for u. show some apprciation.
Lezlie Crosswhite
5:06 pm on Friday, July 6, 2012
I'd be thrilled to show some appreciation . . . If there were just a power crew in my neighborhood to appreciate.
Did you see the video of the power crew guys playing with a remote control helicopter in a neighborhood with no power? That's really bad PR.
Joe A.
8:47 pm on Friday, July 6, 2012
I have to admit when they estimated power restoration not occurring until Friday at 11pm I bailed. Took the whole family including the dog and drove an hour away to find a place with power. The power outage sucks and the lack of AC sucks. I also find the fact that I had trees go through my brand new fence suck. That said I appreciate the people that worked to clear the downed trees from my yard and repair my fence. I appreciate the fact that my church allowed me to bring my dog with me on Sunday so that he too could get some relief. I appreciate all of the work Pepco did before the storm over the last year to make power more reliable (maybe they did not trim back enough for this storm but many people complained about the trimming that was done. Just think how much worse it could have been.). I also really appreciate the people working outside in this ridiculously hot weather to restore the power to my home. Most of us just hid in the shade or went somewhere with power but the crews worked through the heat. When we finally bailed out on Sunday I took what ice I had and what cold water I had and gave it to the guys working in the heat. It was the least I could do.
Thanks to all of those people working to get our life back to normal and if it meant you got overtime pay good for you because you earned it.