BGE and the City of Bowie are gearing up for some big storms next week, activating emergency plans and bringing in extra help to deal with potential outages. They’ve invested a ton in improving their services and encourage everyone to report any outages through their app or hotlines.
Here are the highlights:
- The City of Bowie and BGE are preparing for major thunderstorms and high winds in Maryland.
- BGE’s Storm Center will be mobilized, and mutual assistance resources will arrive at BWI on Monday afternoon.
- The City of Bowie is activating its Emergency Response Center on Monday at 3pm.
- BGE can draw resources from utilities in multiple states, including Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., and Illinois.
- BGE has invested $15 billion since 2014 to improve gas and electric delivery and resilience.
- BGE is using drones for safer and more efficient equipment inspections.
- The company is automating the power restoration process to help crews identify and respond to outages.
- Customers can report outages via BGE.com, text, phone, or the mobile app, available 24/7.
- For downed power lines, customers should call BGE and avoid approaching the lines.
- During major storms, BGE prioritizes clearing major roads and restoring power to critical facilities first.
- Restoration efforts then focus on bringing power back to the greatest number of customers, considering the length of outages.
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BGE, City Prepare for Major Storms
The City of Bowie and BGE are preparing for major thunderstorms and high winds forecast in Maryland early next week.
BGE's Storm Center will be mobilized ahead of the weather and mutual assistance resources will arrive at BWI Monday afternoon. The City of Bowie is activating its Emergency Response Center Monday at 3pm.
During emergencies, BGE can draw on resources from sister utilities in Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., and as far away as Illinois if needed. During past major storms, some restoration crews came as far as Kentucky.
Since 2014, BGE has spent $15 billion working to improve gas and electric delivery and resilience, a major hurdle with more frequent, and more powerful, storms.
Among its new technology, BGE has began using drones in some cases to conduct safer, more efficient equipment inspections. They've also been working to automate more of the power restoration process and trying to make it easier for their crews to identify and respond to outages.
BGE encourages customers to report outages at BGE.com, by texting 69243, calling 877-778-2222, or through BGE's mobile app, available for free at the Apple Store or Google Play. These reporting services are available 24/7.
If a power line is down, call BGE at 1-877-778-2222. Fallen overhead power lines should never be approached or touched even if the lines do not appear to be live. Emergencies can also be reported to 911.
Restoration priorities
During major storms with widespread outages, BGE crews will focus first on clearing major roads of debris and restoring power to critical facilities, 911 call centers, hospitals, pumping stations.
Crews then work on restoration efforts that will bring power back to the greatest number of customers possible. In cases of extended power outages, consideration is given to length of outages.