Cause Unknown for Morning Power Outage

Some residents woke up Monday morning without their usual alarm clock buzz after the power had gone out in the early morning hours.

PEPCO spokesman Andre Francis said the company cannot identify the cause of power outages unless they are reported directly to them.

"We can input an address and locate a reason for the outage," Francis said. "There is no way of identifying a reason for an outage for a general area. We must pinpoint the outage to a specific feeder."

PEPCO, however, has looked into an automated metering infrastructure, or a system that can automatically report when the power is out for customers.

The system has been approved in the District, according to Francis, but is still waiting for approval in Maryland.

"We're waiting on The Maryland Public Service Commission to approve it," he said.

The power outage this morning was small and affected a maximum of 50 customers in the area, according to outage maps - much fewer than the 400,000 people in Maryland, Virginia and the District who were affected by last weekend's storm. For some residents in Riverdale Park, it took two days to reinstate the power in their homes.

Francis said that the power outage last week was largely due to trees falling on power lines.

"The weather is definitely a large factor in power outages," he said. "It's the combination of rain softening the ground and strong winds, which then make the trees move."

The large amount of trees in Prince George's and Montgomery counties lead to many of the outages when a storm comes through, Francis said, and power comes back on quicker in D.C. because there aren't as many trees there.

"This area has the third densest tree canopy in the U.S.," he said.

PEPCO does want to take more initiative when it comes to trimming large trees that obstruct power lines; however, the company must receive approval first from the state and property owners.

Francis said neighbors must report outages, even if their neighbors have already done so.

"There are different feeders in areas, so you might be a different feeder than your neighbor," he said.

Customers should call 1866-PEPCO-62 to report outages or can follow PEPCO at www.twitter.com/PepcoConnect.