Pepco Faces Criticism For Power Restoration After Severe July Storm

WASHINGTON - Pepco is trying to make amends with customers who lost power for many days. About 1,600 people are still without electricity as of Friday afternoon, six days after a severe storm ripped through the area.

Now, government officials are demanding answers about why getting the lights back on took so long.

At the height of the power outages, nearly 300,000 Pepco customers were without electricity. While Pepco has made progress in dealing with the storm damage, the damaged relationship with its customers may take some time.

After the storm, the reviews from Pepco customers - much like their houselights - were hardly glowing.

The complaints were consistent, with many asking why it took Pepco days to get electricity flowing again.

After five days of trying to turn on the power, Pepco is trying to turn the tide on its customer complaints.

On WTOP radio, Pepco Regional President Thomas Graham says his employees deserve a grade of an A for their work to get power up, but admits when it came to keeping customers informed, they didn’t make the grade.

“For the communications associated with the technology, I’d honesty have to say it was a D,” said Graham.

But officials in Montgomery County, which bore the brunt of the power outages, do not appear ready to forgive and forget.

Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett fired off a letter to Pepco demanding answers and credits residents themselves for helping each other get through a difficult week.

“We should not abuse that by waiting too long for Pepco to respond to something that’s fundamental,” said Leggett.

Even though Maryland’s counties do not have authority over Pepco, Leggett says he plans on gathering up all of the complaints he has received this week and bring them directly to the Maryland Board of Public Utilities, which does have power over the power company.