Early Monday morning storm knocks out more service
HUGHESVILLE, Md. (July 2, 2012)—As of 12:30 p.m. Monday, July 2, SMECO had restored electric service to about 92 percent of the customer-members who were affected by power outages resulting from Friday night's storm.
The most heavily affected area is Charles County with 3,708 customers without power. Approximately 118 customers in Calvert County, 503 in Prince George's County, and 127 in St. Mary's County are without power.
Additional storm damage occurred early Monday morning at about 4 a.m. in the St. Mary's County area. Heavy rains took out feeders in Golden Beach and Redgate affecting 2,000 customers, along with scattered outages in the southern portion of St. Mary's County.
Line crews that have been working in St. Mary's and Calvert counties will start to work in Charles and Prince George's counties later today and tomorrow. Barring any additional storm damage, all but a small percentage of SMECO's customer-members should have power restored by Monday evening. Some customers in Charles and Prince George's counties may not have power restored until Tuesday.
"Our crews are working steadily and safely, and we are making good progress in restoring electric service to our customers," said SMECO President and CEO Austin J. Slater, Jr. "We are confident that all of our customer-members will have power restored so they can enjoy their 4th of July holiday."
SMECO's outage restoration policy is to make repairs that will restore service to the most people in the least amount of time. Transmission lines and substations are repaired first, followed by distribution lines that feed neighborhoods. Tap lines and individual service lines are then repaired to restore power to customers who may still be without electricity.
Customers without power should call SMECO's Outage Hotline at 1-877-74-SMECO or 1-877-747-6326. Customers are reminded to use generators outdoors, use gas and charcoal grills outdoors, and use flashlights instead of candles.