BGE: We Tried Our Best During Irene; City and Residents: There Were Flaws

A score of BGE officials came to the City Council meeting armed with an elaborate Power Point presentation showing that most of Bowie had power restored within 48 hours following Tropical Storm Irene. City leaders and residents responded with examples of how the utility dropped the ball.

With more than 750,000 customers without power and 1.5 million customer calls, “this was a storm of epic proportions,” said A. Christopher Burton, BGE senior vice president, Gas and Electric Operations and Planning. “The problem was that healthy, mature trees were being uprooted and thrown onto roads and into power lines.”

Burton said about one-third of the approximately . Of those without power in Bowie, about 80 percent had electricity restored with 48 hours, he said.

In the days preceding the storm, BGE had thousands of workers cutting back tree limbs from power lines. “If not for our tree trimming preparations, there would have been twice as many outages,” said Burton.

City elected officials and residents said they understood that Irene posed significant problems for BGE in keeping electricity supplied to homes. But that wasn’t an excuse that following the storm, fallen trees blocked Church Road for three days, said Mayor G. Fredrick G. Robinson and Councilman Isaac Trouth.

Robinson said he found it puzzling that a major entrance to the southern portion of Bowie could remain blocked for that long. “It’s unacceptable and inexcusable,” he said.

Trouth said what BGE officials were saying about the utility’s storm performance didn’t jive with the reality of the forced closure of Church Road. “There was a definite disconnect.”

He also said it seemed that BGE repair crews were often getting lost. “Some of them had no idea where they were. They didn’t have a clue,” said Trouth.

Burton apologized, saying that Church Road was not on the priority repair list provided by the county and that the extra out-of-state repair crews BGE used were supposed to be escorted by local BGE representatives.

Councilman Henri Gardner said that BGE’s assertion that it took an average 60 seconds to respond to customers calling in just “doesn’t seem accurate.” Gardner said he was on the phone waiting for the utility 10 to 20 minutes at a time, as were many of his constituents. “I challenge that information,” he said.

Northview residents Janelle Cartledge and Terrance Roach, and Heather Hills resident Allen Knotts, said they were without power for nearly a week.

“When they were down to 119, and you are one of the 119 still without power, that’s not acceptable,” said Cartledge.

Also during Monday night’s meeting:

• The City Council heard how the National Capital Radio & Television Museum in Bowie has outgrown its Mitchellville Road location. Museum Executive Director Brian Belanger asked the council’s help in finding a new headquarters, preferably also in Bowie, and to help obtain financial donations. The mayor and Councilman Dennis Brady said they also want the museum to stay in Bowie, and pledged the city’s help to do so.

• The Council gave its approval, with conditions that nearby road widening be done, for an 850-seat church to be built on Old Stage Road near Church Road. The Adventist church, to be called the Restoration Praise Center, is expected to open in about two years.