Saturday 23 June 2012

Re: [ward5] Re: [WardFive] Its 6:00pm: Where's Pepco's the Online/Listserv Updates to the Affected Communities

Gigi,

Please understand the difference, I'm not carrying the water for PEPCO as I'm not a share holder and would never be because they are in a no win situation. I'm just pointing out points.

As for the question about fuses, he explained it to me that many of the systems are outdated and can't truly handle the power demands. Because of this it puts extra pressure on local power sources.

As far as changes however I can see them as up until two years ago we used to lose power on my block if a rodent passed gas on a light pole. However we haven't had a major outage since they replaced materials in the area.

As far as those teams of people, where is that money to come from to do all of this. Gas, travel, hotels and wages are higher now, yet you want it for no additional cost.

One of the companies that I own stock in Duke Energy has dealt with similar issues and actually had to raise cost and ask for more from shareholders. But it took both. Unfortunately, in this region it is only a demand for one side, the shareholders to do so.

Eric J. Jones
- ejjones.threed@gmail.com

On Jun 23, 2012 11:00 PM, "Gigi Ransom" <gigifor5c12@yahoo.com> wrote:
Eric,
 
Good try but it won't work.  I still have a fuse box.  We had about a 1-2 minute blackout, then the power came back on.  Can your personal electrician explain what does a fuse box have to do with trees taking down power lines, lightening blowing out transformers and Pepco not having sufficient work crews to restore the power in DC in 90-100% temperatures?
 
Funny, my fuse box was changed over to a breaker box in Feb 2012, but still hasn't been connected directly to the power lines, so I'm still on fuse power. At that time was told it would take 120 days for Pepco to do the diagrams or whatever they're called.  A Pepco contractor was here about 1 month ago, but couldn't give a date for the connection to the overhead wires.  Let's see, doing the math, Feb (28 days), Mar (31); Apr (30); May (31); and June to date (23)=143 days. 
 
Again, I'm not saying that Pepco has the "Power" to stop trees from coming down or lightening strikes.  It is in the aftermath when Pepco's flaws showed through.  This is not the first storm or the last.  The late Johnnie Cochran empowered with , "I'm a big believer in the fact that life is about Preparation, Preparation, Preparation."  Corporate success is also based on this principle.  Pepco is a utility company.  Things happened. They should be prepared. Electric power is extrememly important in the lives of our residents and they PAY to have it.  Residents don't feel they are getting what they pay for plain and simple.
 
To be foretold is to be forewarned.  Sufficient advance notice was given about the brutal storm that hit our area.  There should have been preparation to restore power in the shortest amount of time possible, with sufficient teams of crews working to restore power, especially with a rate increase request.  I recall last year and prior years.  Out of state crews were brought in in advance, depending on the length of cable needed to be replaced would have 2-3 trucks working at sections of the downed line to put back up, then reconnect, then request power to be restored to the lines. Not one truck at a time. It was a wonderful thing to see which gave hope Pepco no longer wanted to be at the bottom of the utlity ranking list.  I was starting to believe they had really begun to turn things around.  No so this weekend which I feel was/is crucial to the rate case.
 
I understand you wanting to carry the water of Pepco like you do for other companies when residents give constructive criticism.  But when you know better, you should do better.  Pepco knows better.
 
I hope they appreciate your words.  Yes, you could possibly be a good spokesperson or work in their community relations office.  As I've always said, they have some talented and caring people working for them.  Regretfully, the problem you would encounter is that although you sound good expressing the well intentions of a company, somehow you always deflect the issue back onto the consumer or resident as if they have some fault in the situation.  After experiencing this from you on many occassions, the motives of your reasoning are questioned and your words are not believeable.  There are some situations you just need to let alone. 
 
Tom Graham knows my views/opinions.  I see a company that has the resources, finances, the technology to do a better job.  Look at that location the lines are down in my SMD.  It takes more than 1 week to repair?  What does your personal electrician have to say about that?
 
"Let there be Light"
 
Albrette "Gigi" Ransom
From: Eric J. Jones <ejjones.threed@gmail.com>
To: wardfive@googlegroups.com
Cc: "llee@psc.dc.gov" <llee@psc.dc.gov>; "bakane@psc.dc.gov" <bakane@psc.dc.gov>; Phil Mendelson <pmendelson@dccouncil.us>; Ward5 <ward5@yahoogroups.com>; Kenyan (Council) McDuffie <kmcduffie@dccouncil.us>; Sandra Mattavous-Frye <smfrye@opc-dc.gov>; Yvette Alexander <yalexander@dccouncil.us>
Sent: Saturday, June 23, 2012 8:05 PM
Subject: [ward5] Re: [WardFive] Its 6:00pm: Where's Pepco's the Online/Listserv Updates to the Affected Communities

 
Gigi,
I just finished getting things back together in my family home in Brookland and returned home. One thing that I did was call my personal electrician who is working today. He mentioned something that I thought should be brought up.
Many of the homes in our more well established neighborhoods haven't been updated from an electrical stand point in decades leading to issues beyond PEPCO's control yet which adds extra stress to the system.
He also reminded me of what it cost to pay a union electrical worker on overtime which PEPCO must do.
You keep on saying that we need better service and new upgrades but fail to explain how they can and will be paid for. Yes the company has to pay for some of this but can't and won't do it alone.
Folks constantly talk of being good neighbors yet aren't putting in the effort to take care of trees on their property, upgrading their electrical systems in house and reducing the stress on the system which causes more problems for the greater community.
I personally looked at the fuse box (yes I said fuse box) in my grandparents home and it said inspected & approves 6/8/71. Now I know that my folks can't afford to get a new panel put in and that more than likely my wife and I will have to try to find a way to deal with it but this is what I mean.
Right after that I knocked on the doors of a few neighbors who I knew were home and asked them to check theirs. All but one of them had fuse boxes older than 1982. This also means that they may have knob and tube wiring which is an added stress on the system & a fire hazard.
This type of stuff must also be addressed in addition to working with PEPCO to come up with a real solution. If we don't do it bow wr will (a) watch things get worse as the money to deal with them will never surface or (b) we will wait until the last minute and face outrageous prices like Montgomery and Prince Georges Counties.

On Jun 23, 2012 7:12 PM, "Gigi Ransom" <gigifor5c12@yahoo.com> wrote:
It is gratifying to hear that there was only one DC resident who sustained a major injury from last night's storm that sweep through DC and the counties.  Though you don't want anyone hurt, due to the velosity of the storm, fallen trees and power lines it could have been worst.
 
We just came out of additional rounds of Formal Case 1087, Pepco rate increase request for over $42 million dollars!  Again, thanks to not only Kathy H, other W5 residents along with citywide ANCs, community leaders, AARP, other community and businesses orgs, along with just plain feed up residents who didn't believe that Pepco had made enough progress in turning things around to more positive business operations, quality of service, reliability and responses to emergency situations.  I thought last year's response to the Hurricane, other isolated matters showed that Pepco took to heart the outcries from MD & DC residents and elected officials.  I gave them a little benefit of the doubt, but also didn't agree that they deserved a rate increase, Pepco had to truly earn it this time.
 
Pepco's preparedness and response to yesterday's swift moving storm perdicted and reported to occur from 3-5 days prior showed they are not.  From what I heard, as of 12:00 noon, over 9,000 DC residents were still without power. About 1 hr ago, I heard the number was reduced to 7,000. Since last year, all the commercials, print and other ads, millions of dollars of ratepayers money was spent to try to convince ratepayers about how much Pepco has improved to justify the rate increase request was just a waste of ratepayer dollars since too many thousands are still without power.
 
Late last night, I reported to Jeannette Mobley that power lines and what looked like a small transformer was down in my SMD by 4520 Ft. Totten Road NE due to the storm.  Have to take that back because I learned this afternoon that this line has been down for about 1 week.  Fire Dept taped off.  It is safe to assume Fire Dept reported this through the proper channels.  Why wasn't this problem repaired prior to the storm?
 
 What happened?  Because the PSC hearing a few weeks ago didn't seem to go Pepco's way was there a decision made not to prepare for this predicted severe storm, have out-of-town crews here in the Metro area on standby readiness?  Doesn't Pepco have a more advanced weather system or access to one than the average ratepayer?
 
On top of that, again, there has been no direct continuous communications with the public other than news reports.  Just saw one that focused on MD.  Hmmm, they have a Governor and PSC that is seriously upset with Pepco.  We need a Press Release from our PSC as to their concerns about the progress or lack thereof.  Hoep CM Alexander will hold a hearing on this matter.  DDOT sent one out this morning (9:33am) advising of the cleanup crews (below). Also below is the Pepco 5:30pm News Release from their website.  Didn't check prior to writing this.
 
CM McDuffie and Jeannette, their staff have been hard at work throughout the night and today trying to get answers and related problems resolved and assistance for those in W5 that have been adversely impacted, not knowing when the lights will come back on.
 
New century, advances in technology, trained workers, yet, we get another 3rd World response.
 
We can't let the few continue to stand up for the many in their efforts to fight these continuous Pepco rate increase requests.  Pepco, a multi million or maybe billion dollar corporation which has been documented to pay no taxes continue to get away with treating its ratepayers as an option, with the pockets of their executives and shareholders being the priority!
 
Had enough? What do you have to say?  Also like let your appointed and elected officials know.  Send emails.
 
"Let there be Light" Hopefully for all DC residents TONIGHT, not sunday or Monday morning like the Pepco News Release states!
 
Albrette "Gigi" Ransom
_________________________________
Pepco Crews Working Round the Clock to Restore Power
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Thunderstorm Leaves Severe Damage in its Wake
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Crews and support personnel are working around the clock to restore power
to customers after severe thunderstorms left devastation in some neighborhoods and infrastructure
damage across Pepco's service territory.
In preparation for the storm, Pepco lined up additional crews and call center personnel. Crews from
other utilities also are helping restore power.
As of 5:30 p.m. Saturday, crews had restored power to approximately more than 75 percent of the
customers who lost electricity. At the peak late Friday night, about 45,000 customers were without
power — more than 18,000 in the District of Columbia, more than 17,000 in Prince George's County
and 9,000 in Montgomery County. As of 5:30 p.m. Saturday, fewer than 11,000 remained without
power — 3,800 in D.C., about 6,500 in Prince George's County and about 500 in Montgomery
County.
Prince George's County and areas in Northeast D.C. suffered the most severe damage and were
where more outages were concentrated.
Thomas H. Graham, President, Pepco Region, toured affected areas Saturday afternoon.
"The devastation in some neighborhoods was profound," Graham said. "In one case, we had
someone's roof on one of our utility poles. We are working very hard to get the power back on, but we
are dealing with many challenges."
Much of the damage was caused by trees — many uprooted; some through buildings; and many that
took down wires, broke crossarms and in some cases cracked or broke utility poles.
Customers are asked to please avoid downed wires, even if they don't appear to be energized.
Customers can report downed wires by calling 1-877-PEPCO62. Customers also are asked to report
outages by calling 1-877-PEPCO62, through pepco.com or through the mobile app, available for
download through pepco.com/mobileapp.
Pepco anticipates restoring power:
· To Montgomery County by the early morning hours Sunday
· To most of the District and Prince George's County very late Sunday night, into early Monday hours
· To the hardest-hit areas of Bladensburg, Hyattsville, Cheverly plus some areas in Northeast D.C.
later into Monday morning or early afternoon.
For more information and updates, visit www.pepco.com, follow us on Facebook and Twitter at
PepcoConnect and download our mobile app at
www.pepco.com/mobileapp.
###
Pepco, a subsidiary of Pepco Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: POM), delivers safe, reliable and affordable
electric service to more than 788,000 customers in Maryland and the District of Columbia.
 
 
 
_______________________________________
DDOT List DDOT List
Government of the District of Columbia
Department of Transportation
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Media Contact: John Lisle at 202
‐486‐5838, john.lisle@dc.gov
District Crews Cleaning Up Tree Damage
(Washington, D.C.) Crews from the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) are working this morning to remove
downed trees, branches and debris from District streets and neighborhoods. Damage caused by last night's storm has
already generated more than 100 tree
‐related service requests for DDOT and its contractors, with the worst damage
reported in Wards 4 and 5.
District residents are reminded to call 311 or go online at 311.dc.gov to report downed trees and branches in public space.
The service requests are immediately forwarded to DDOT's Urban Forestry Administration (UFA). Priority is given to street trees that have fallen on homes, cars and power lines, and trees that are blocking roadways; then UFA will shift its focus to storm clean up in alleys and other tree related storm debris.
DDOT is also coordinating with Pepco to address locations where wires are tangled in downed trees. To report a power
outage please call Pepco at 877‐PEPCO62. Customers may report outages online at pepco.com or download Pepco's smart phone app, pepco.com/mobileapp, to report and track their outages.
District residents are reminded that trees and branches that fall on or from private property are the responsibility of the
property owners.
####
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