Montgomery County State Lawmakers Want Details on Pepco's Storm Readiness

State lawmakers from Montgomery County want to know about Pepco's preparations for Hurricane Sandy, a Category 1 storm that is predicted to hit Maryland late Sunday or Monday. 

Fifteen state senators and delegates from seven legislative districts signed a letter Friday to the company's president, Thomas H. Graham. The lawmakers cited this summer's derecho and 2011's Hurricane Irene, storms that left Montgomery County with widespread power outages, as reasons for why they're checking up on the company's efforts. 

Lawmakers asked Pepco four questions about how the utility will respond to outages from the hurricane. The questions, excerpted from the letter: 

1) Will Pepco take appropriate precautions and initiate communications and outreach to partners in other states for additional repair crews before the storm hits our region?

2) What reforms included in Pepco’s post-derecho “self-assessment” has the company adopted to ensure Montgomery County and other coverage areas have power restored in the same time-frame as providers operating in neighboring jurisdictions?

3) Has Pepco completed upgrades to its customer service operations, including its online power restoration maps and telephone response lines?

4) What reforms have been adopted or measures will Pepco take to ensure high-priority customers (i.e. nursing homes and senior centers) do not lose power or have power restored as quickly as possible?

The letter was signed by Senators Karen Montgomery (D-Dist 14), Richard Madaleno (D-Dist 18), Jamie Raskin (D-Dist 20) and Nancy King (D-Dist 29). Delegates Eric Luedtke (D-Dist 14), Craig Zucker (D-Dist 14), Brian Feldman (D-Dist 15), William Frick (D-Dist 16), Ariana Kelly (D-Dist 16), Susan Lee (D-Dist 16), Luiz Simmons (D-Dist 17), Alfred Carr (D-Dist 18), Ana Sol Gutierrez (D-Dist 18), Sheila Hixson (D-Dist 20) and Heather Mizeur (D-Dist 20).