Saturday, June 02, 2018

Pepco grid fails again in Westbard area of Bethesda

It was another embarrassing episode of "Third World Power" for Pepco this morning, in the Westbard area of Bethesda. Just 13 days after the last power outage, which itself was only the latest of several in early 2018, power went out again in the area between River Road and Massachusetts Avenue - three times in one morning!

The third-world experience began with a power outage around 6:45 AM this morning. Five minutes later, power was restored. At 6:52, power began to fluctuate wildly, straining all electronics and appliances in the affected homes and businesses. Around 7:00, power went entirely out again, only to come back on at 7:02. Power surges and several brownouts then occurred, further damaging appliances. A third full power outage hit at 7:05. About five minutes later, power was restored, and - so far - has remained at normal levels.

441 customers were affected by the outages and brownouts, according to Pepco. The Exelon-owned utility has taken no action to address what are clear grid problems in the Westbard area. Something is wrong with Pepco's equipment, and it has to be fixed. Weather conditions were entirely normal during this morning's outages, which has been the case earlier this year, as well.

Clocks must be reset, and damages tallied, for the umpteenth time in 2018. This level of service and reliability is completely unacceptable. The Montgomery County Council has failed to act once again, busy raising your taxes this week instead of holding Pepco accountable for the repeated outages in Bethesda.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Third world" is an Old World term

Anonymous said...

You don't know what you're talking about. Exelon is the greatest thing that could have happened with our electricity. They've spent millions of dollars in tree trimming and upgrading equipment. The power used to go out every time the wind would blow now it rarely does despite in few areas. Remember when everyone was considering whole house generators? Well, those people are kicking themselves now because the only time their generators run is during the monthly test. The power grid is better now under Exelon than ever before. PEPCO looks and operates like the DC Govt. It's a joke. Look at the system overall and you'll see it's leaps and bounds over what it's ever been.

Robert Dyer said...

5:55: The fact is, Pepco has grid problems in the Westbard area, and they are going to rack up a large bill for all of the appliances they are destroying in the process. There's been no sign of Exelon greatness in the Westbard area. Just a lot of resetting clocks. They need to get out there and start fixing it and "upgrading equipment."

Anonymous said...

How many appliances have been "destroyed"?

Anonymous said...

I agree with 5:55. After the derecho a couple years ago (we were out 7 days on that one), Pepco went on an aggressive tree-trimming spree. People got mad about it, but we haven't lost power more than once in the last year, and that was only for a few minutes.

Indeed I'm sort of kicking myself for the $15k we spent on a generator -- we never have to use it!

Anonymous said...

So have you ever contacted PEPCO to ask them what's going on?

Anonymous said...

Whack-a-troll

Robert Dyer said...

6:12: You certainly may have had good luck or good fortune in your area, but there are still ongoing problems in other areas like Westbard. Generators are good investments in the Westbard area. We also haven't had a true weather test since the derecho, and Pepco performed poorly during that late winter storm earlier this year - despite 3 days notice to call in backup crews.

Anonymous said...

Deleted half these comments but not mine. He, he, he!!!

Anna said...

My poor skills as an electrician often leave people shocked.