Broadneck Power Outages Continue

Though Baltimore Gas and Electric Company (BGE) announced last night that it had restored electric service to nearly 60 percent of the more than 700,000 customers who experienced outages during and following Tropical Storm Irene, those numbers were little comfort to many on the Broadneck peninsula.

From Pines on the Severn to St. Margaret's to Cape St. Claire, many in the Broadneck area are still without power. Residents haven't seen many service trucks in the area and that doesn't give them a lot of confidence that restoration will come any time soon. The Broadneck Patch Facebook Page was full of comments from local residents commiserating over the situation last night. 

Reader Kristin Hurff said she drove around the Cape Sunday a couple of times in the late afternoon and never passed a single BGE truck. "When I drove into Annapolis, I saw no signs of power until I crossed the Severn River Bridge," she wrote.

Others expressed understanding over the huge job that BGE crews had on their hands after the storm. 

Reader Susan Peregoy said she spoke with a BGE repairman in the Falcon Crest area who said the power was out from about Earleigh Heights (Severna Park) on down.

"He was honest and nice. His power is out at his house, too, but he is working long, long hours to get power back for all," said Peregoy.

Officials from the power company said they expect service to the vast majority of customers currently without power to be restored no later than late Friday, with the possibility that there could be isolated and scattered outages extending into Saturday. Customers can stay informed on restoration progress via www.bge.com, Twitter, Facebook and Flickr. 

A. Christopher Burton, senior vice president of gas and electric operations and planning for BGE, said in a statement yesterday, "BGE’s balanced approach to restoring electric service prioritizes outages affecting public safety and critical infrastructure in all parts of its service area. However, the lines that supply power to substations sustained significant damage from Hurricane Irene. Those lines must be repaired or replaced before any of the equipment downstream can be repaired. As a result, outage durations have been extended for some customers.”

BGE said in a statement that top priorities are public safety matters, such as downed wires and critical infrastructure (911 centers, hospitals, and water treatment facilities). Once these issues have been addressed, field assignments will be prioritized to restore service to the greatest number of customers at a time, adding that consideration will also be given to customers who have been out of service the longest.

That's of little comfort to residents who voiced frustration with BGE's own map that showed many outages still on one particular peninsula.

As of last night, residents from the following communities reported on Broadneck Patch's Facebook Page that their homes were still out of power: parts of Cape St. Claire, Indian Hills, Bay Dale, Raintree, Belvedere, Glen Eden, Pines on the Severn, Dividing Creek, St. Margaret's, Ulmstead, Whispering Woods, the Timbers, Foxmoor, and Falcon Crest.

"Still no power, no BGE sightings. No respect or sense of urgency from some BGE spokespeople," wrote Kevin Basquill of Cape St. Claire. "Friday is their best guess...."