More on electric utility companies

This is an issue in the DC-Maryland region because the major power company operating around DC, Pepco (Potomac Electric Power Company) has an abysmal record for maintenance over the past few years, and as a result, the company, and therefore its customers, experience far more power outages, for longer periods of time, compared to the customers of the best operating electric utility companies elsewhere in the U.S.

It's also led to a proposal in Montgomery County, Maryland, for the county to take over the infrastructure and business of electric power distribution there--a proposal which hasn't gone over well in the media and the business community.

With the unexpected snow storm in late October, the northeastern part of the U.S. got stomped by snow, and millions of people experienced electric power outages, especially in Connecticut. Unlike with the debacle with Pepco (which is benefiting newspapers because Pepco continues to buy newspaper ads to communicate with their customers), the failure to execute appears to have cost the leader of Connecticut Light and Power his job. See "CL&P President and COO Jeffrey Butler resigns in wake of storm outages" from the New Haven Register.