Letter to the Editor: BGE Urges Customers to Plan for Outages

Editor's Note: The following letter to the editor is from Jeannette M. Mills, Baltimore Gas & Electric's vice president of customer operations and chief customer officer, encourages residents to actively prepare for impending storms and anticipated power outages.

While the exact path of Hurricane Sandy continues to fluctuate, as soon as it became apparent there could be a possible East Coast landfall, BGE began the process of pre-mobilizing employees, calling in assistance from out-of-state crews and preparing for a hurricane impact. This is expected to be a very dangerous storm with high winds, heavy rain and possible flooding – all of which can cause whole trees, tree limbs and water to damage our electric equipment, resulting in outages for customers.

Just as BGE is preparing, we strongly advise customers to take the time now to plan in advance to protect families and property, particularly given the strong possibility of extended power outages. Preparation includes monitoring the weather and noting BGE’s number—1.877.778.2222—for reporting an outage or a downed wire. Have mobile devices charged in advance, and for customers who rely on electric medical equipment, it’s essential that you have back up power sources and prepare for the option of an alternate location to wait out the storm in case of an extended outage. Those who have generators should ensure they operate them safely.

Just as delivering safe and reliable electric and gas service is a vital responsibility for BGE, ensuring that our customers are informed is also extremely important. For updates on the storm, visit our website, www.bge.com, follow myBGE on Twitter and Facebook, and stay tuned to the news. We want to thank all BGE customers in advance for preparing to weather Hurricane Sandy. 

Sincerely,

Jeannette M. Mills

Vice President, Customer Operations & Chief Customer Officer

Baltimore Gas and Electric Company