Mayor: Power Restoration 'Not Satisfactory'

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said the city is lagging behind in having its power restored by BGE.

"Right now our restoration rate has fallen behind the state average. That is not satisfactory. We should be on par, or above the state average," Rawlings-Blake said.  

During a news conference on Monday, the mayor said the city should be receiving more crews to restore power because of its concentration of elderly and poor in Baltimore City.

"We need increase in representation of crews here in BGE. We don’t ever need to lag the state average in restoration," Rawlings-Blake said.

She said BGE hasn’t given any indication as to why the city is behind in having power restored.

Rob Gould, a BGE spokesman, said they're taking a balanced approach to restoring power throughout the state, but added that he understands the mayor's concern.

"At the end of the day we're all working toward the same goal, to restore power quickly and safely," Gould said.

Rawlings-Blake said there are 66,261 customers—about 25 percent of BGE’s city clients— without power Monday afternoon.

"I will not be satisfied until all customers have their power restored," Rawlings-Blake said.

She said that she will continue to stay in contact with BGE leadership and make it clear to them the severity of the situation.

"Extreme heat with massive power outages is a very dangerous and deadly combination," Rawlings-Blake said.

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