Business & Tech

Legislation Calls for Utility Reliability Standards

Utility companies that underperform would have to give payment back to the ratepayers.

State legislation introduced Thursday will work to create reliability standards for Maryland utilities — a move that comes after mounting frustration with Pepco when thousands of customers in Montgomery County lost power during last week’s snow storm.

The legislation, which is sponsored by Del. Brian Feldman (D-Dist. 15) of Potomac and Sen. Thomas Middleton (D-Dist. 28), will allow the Maryland Public Service Commission to fine utility companies for poor performance and direct payments back to affected ratepayers.

“Hundreds of thousands of Marylanders have lost confidence in the ability of their utilities to provide reliable electric service,” Feldman said in a news release. “They are looking to their elected officials to step up and take action.”

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

The legislation would require the Public Service Commission to determine the reliability standards by July 1, 2012. The standards would address concerns such as service interruption, downed wire repair and service quality.

Also, the legislation will require utility companies to report if they met the standards. If companies fall short of the commission’s standards, they could face fines for noncompliance and that money will then go back to the ratepayers.

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

“The best way to ensure our utilities keep their promise to provide reliable and timely service is through tough reliability standards with serious penalties for nonperformance,” Middleton said in a release.

The Public Service Commission reported earlier this week that Pepco had been charging customers since 2007 for service it never provided during power outages.

Councilmember Roger Berliner (D-Dist. 1), who helped draft the legislation, addressed his stance on Pepco’s poor service  and called on the utility company to form a restitution fund.

“Other states have standards — if you don't turn the power on in a certain number of hours, we are going to penalize you,” Berliner said on Wednesday.

“[The proposed law] will set standards of responsibility and hold them financially accountable. If you don't hold them financially accountable, forget it, they're not going to do it.”


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here