My power is out and to be honest I am not coping with it very well. This is the first time my family has had to suffer from this therefore we were totally unprepared. We have pets and a toddler so this is extremely unbearable. No, I am not pointing the finger or blaming anyone just stating my frustration. I hope and that it's back on soon.

I'm blaming a lot of officials! PEPCO, Montgomery County for sure.
We've lived in 5 states and have never paid such high taxes as we do in Montgomery County for crap service! I have never ever experienced such bad service as Montgomery county for the ridiculously high taxes here, Shameful.

This is nothing new with PEPCO. They are known for having the worst service ever. But don't worry-Joseph Rigby and Tom Graham will still get their huge salaries and bonuses. In fact, PEPCO currently has a proposal before the Public Services Commission for another rate increase, because apparently the top executives there don't make enough money.

Call and write your county reps, and the commission, because this will never change until they really start to fine PEPCO for this garbage.

I you tree huggers in the DC area would just let Pepco clear cut down all the tree along power lines you wouldn't be in this mess. While you are quick to criticize when the power goes out you are even more quick to criticize and write to your politicians whenever Pepco sends out crews to cut down old trees near power lines. You can't have it both ways, either keep the trees and have long outages or cut down the trees and have shorter outages. I'm glad I moved out of MoCo.

Pepco is, without any doubt, the worst utility company possible. We pay between $50-$100 per month to power our two bedroom apartment. In the three years living in Takoma Park our power has been out for more than 10 days, plus the 3 days already in this outage.

In contrast, my parents live in AA county, they pay the same amount to power a 4 bedroom house, and their power is on right now.

It's extremely difficult to cope with this outage. The refrigerator doesn't work, so we have to eat out every meal. Most gas stations are closed so you can't drive around without fear of getting stuck. The bus isn't running on schedule because of downed trees and route changes. Did I mention its 100 degrees outside?

The community pools in montco are closed. That won't help you.

Manor Care in Potomac which is a rehab center and nursing home does not seem to be on pepco's priority list. Why is that? The power lines are just lying in the street.

No crews in sight anywhere along river road (except by Congressional CC!!!)......a lot of BS about restoration , but no action. I think they are are saying a week so Pepco has an excuse to do nothing substantial...what a disgrace in the nation's capital!!

Didnt mc just extend the utility tax they had promised faithfully to end and then raise salaries and pensions. Until there is an electoral revolt against this council and executive no one should expect better services

What about germantown? Warren Station area, power had been restored at businesses and commercial areas and they left the residential areas just nearby.

This morning a came across a couple of BG&E working on some lines on Contee Rd behind the hospital. They assured me that their work would bring power to the intersection of Kilbaron Rd and Van Dusen Rd in Laurel Maryland. By 5:00 PM, those guys had completed their task by restoring power to Mayfair Terrance. I found this to be extremely odd. Why didn't they attempt to restore power to the following intersections: Van Dusen & Kilbaron, Van Dusen & Cherry Lane, Van Dusen & 198? Also, there are power lines down on Route 1 that could have provided service to more people than the ones at Mayfair Terrance.

Take a look at BG&E's power restoration map. Notice that outside of Baltimore Laurel has the only red dot on the map. It seems pretty obvious that BG&E has issues with the city of Laurel.

I've noticed that many giant trees in yards, not particularly near power lines, have blown down on to the lines and pulled down the cables. I would place the blame on the homeowner who did not follow proper landscaping procedures and plant species of trees which do not become giants such as dogwoods, cherries,magnolias, etc. which do not become giant forest trees. The removal of such downed trees takes many hours of careful work. DON'T always blame PEPCO.

pepco need to be in 21st century in technology and management. should retire the old management mentality.

It pisses me off because I see on my block we are all out of power, though the next block over, they all have lights on!! WTF? How does that happen, and we STILL have an ETA of a week???

I grew up in New England, with lots of trees, all above ground power lines, many ice storms, thunderstorms and hurricanes, and we never lost power for more than 24 hours. I don't know what the exact problem is, but Pepco has a serious problems. I have lost power more times in the last 10 years in Bethesda, than in the previous 40 in New England. And New England has some intense weather.

Pepco is a prime example why certain services should not be privatized or left to "self regulate". End of story!

Live in Chevy Chase DC. Our power went out TODAY, no storms. Just shut down around 3:45 this afternoon. Which I'm sure means some Pepco crew somewhere did something wrong...great!

I live in fort Washington md and over the past 13 years every year we have a power outage causing us hundreds of dollars on food and gas for the generator. Since Fridays storm I've seen 2 utility trucks. They've restored lights to commercial businesses and neighborhood stores and leaving homeowners in 103 degree weather to deal with it . Every street besides my street has electricity and EVERYBODY on the street is pissed off about that.

I live in Montgomery County and thank God this is the first time in the past five years that we have had power during such a large outage. I feel for those without. Losing a refrigerator full of food sucks!!!!! That has happened to me more times than I can count. Keep strong -- and write and call your county reps -- and for what it's worth, also bombard PEPCO with calls.

We have lived in Montgomery County for 11 years and it never ceases to amaze me how difficult it is to restore power in the suburbs of the Nation's Capital! In the past 4 years we have had more than 6 multiple day outages AND our power lines are underground. Previously we lived in various areas within NYC for over 25 years...1 outage that lasted ONE DAY. So my question is...Nation's Capital or third world country? You decide.

Our electricity stayed on through the storm and into the day on Sat. At around 1 pm, amid sunny skies and calm winds, our power went off. Coincidentally, just around the time Tiger et al were teeing off @ Comgressional. Me thinks it wasn't so coincidental. We live in Fox Hills.

Based on past experience, I'm sure we'll be out longer than a week. Our neighborhood will be back maybe by the weekend but our 15 houses will be the last. So much for paying $1 M for improved PEPCO reliability.

I agree that waiting a week to have your power restored is outrageous, and Pepco should find a way to compensate their customers. However, who is to blame for our dependency on electricity? There are plenty of people in the world who live daily without TVs, refrigerators, and even lights! Maybe we should use this unfortunate event as a wake up call so we learn how to respond and survive in these situations. :)

I want to see a credit from pepco

Fortunately, the power in my building in downtown Silver Spring didn't go out, but the houses, streetlights, and traffic lights in the vicinity were dark last time I checked. On the other hand, the assisted living community in Rockville my grandparents live in did lose power. The common areas were running on some kind of backup, but people in their 70s and 80s and beyond, the ones most vulnerable to a heatwave, have had to live and sleep with no AC. I hope it's back on by now. Old people, for God's sake, in this heat...

As for fault and blame, I think there can be no doubt that it mostly lies with PEPCO. I think it's more than a little foolish to blame the people who plant and/or do not remove trees. You can't just chop down all the trees in scores of residential neighborhoods populated by hundreds of thousands of residents. For many reasons I'll decline to delineate here, trees are rather important . . . Go listen to that Joni Mitchell song. She'll tell you. :-)

In summation: Hold PEPCO accountable. Don't blame Nature and her verdant earthly representatives. And protect the elderly, for the love of God.

We have wires down on good hope and twig rds. Pepco had 2 trucks in our rec center for 6 hrs. Pepco said they were there to do he repairs. The people in he truck left for those 6 hours, came back and left with no repair. We called Pepco and they said go to a shelter, for a list go to our website. We said how we have no power. They suggested we use a computer (duh) or go to the shelter and plug in their to get it...wtf?!?!?! Add to it my mother has life support for her sleep apnea...lot of good that does her and our house is like 90 degrees at nite

People, the county reps won't do squat when you take your complaints to them. Pepco or the county should take some valuable lessons away after this disastrous power restoration. If they haven't determined them by now, let me spell them out. 1. Assess any trees coming within close or dangerous distance from the cable lines and trim the trees or branches. 2. Bury the cable lines! 3. Asses any old, dead or rotting trees and cut them down. 4. Reduce the exorbitant energy fee and reduce your salaries if you make an obscene salary and feel guilty or uncomfortable when you get another raise or bonus, to pay for the trees assessment.

Invest in a whole house generator!! Wake up people. Yes it is expensive cost up front but if you add all the food you have thrown out, future food you will have to throw out, and a major inconveinance it will pay for itself in the long run. I have my AC working, computer, TV, lights, fridge and freezer all working. I even have more family members over so then can cope with the heat. Best money ever spent!! Fix the problem yourself because Pepco is not going to fix it. Plus if you sell your house it's a huge positive!

Has anyone else been able to get answers from Comcast about when internet/cable/phone service will be restored? We never lost power but have been without out Comcast services since the storm. I live in the Westchester area of Wheaton.

[Graham said, "but we already have a lot of resources on the property because of the reliability plan we've been executing the last few years.] Really? I wonder how it would have been without the plan! I think he should be forced to live in place with no power for the duration of the repair.

Could someone please explain to me how one building in a wide outage area can have power and ALL of the buildings for blocks around it have none?! At first I assumed that my apartment building had an emergency generator, but it turns out that it doesn't! What is even more mysterious to me is the fact that I just found out last night that only three apartments in my building (including my own, thank God!) have power; the rest do not. How can THAT be?!
What puzzles me even more though is why it takes so long to restore power in the DC metro area. I have lived in third-world countries where the power goes out constantly but it was alway restored quickly. For example, when I lived in Egypt for ten years, I experienced power outages weekly, but only for minutes or, at most, hours at a time. The same thing was true in other countries that I lived in. It was always annoying and sometimes disruptive, but NEVER the magnitude of our outages here and the time required to restore service. But, then, PEPCO is a private company, something which I cannot fathom, given the extreme importance of this utility, especially in cases of dire emergency.

Outage Outrage: The Politics of Electricity:

See this article here
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/07/omalley-and-the-outages-why-cant-liberals-make-the-trains-run-on-time/259314/#

Im very curious, does pepco work on this issue 24/7? Or is it only during the day? Is it possible for my power in montgomery village to come back on at anytime am or pm? Wow, I was actually able to write this in a calm and collect manner. I hate and I repeat hate living under these conditions. It ain't right.

And not to mention wasted food, cold water to shower with and no a/c. This could drive anybody insane. I hate to point fingers so I won't. But why is this taking such a rediculous amount of time to fix. All my coworkers have power. My neighbors have power. What the hell happened to me? There, I feel better. But I'm still hot as hell.

Our politicians can not make jobs but I can think of a bury the nations power grid project which will end the continously repeating power line knockdowns. Walter Richters

Why must we suffer above ground power grid problems when we can run them underground in service tunnels on wire trays?

I live in Berwyn Heights and our power is underground. Our electricity has to be turned back on from a substation...Day 4 and still no full power. So much for that idea of it being better. Trust me, we lose power just like everybody else, but scratching our head about how long it takes to get us up and running again.

They've had their chance. Pepco has proven it's not up to the challenge. It's time to break them up and give new 21st century utility companies the chance to get the job done. Close the doors on this pathetic excuse for a company.

Its all about "Bonus Money".....Since deregulation's and buy out's an merger's IT"S all about "Bonus Money's"...PEPCO has taken all the "PROFIT"S" an given it as "BONUS MONEY" ...They hav cut "LINEMAN" and "TREE TRIMMING" money for YRS and given it as "BONUS MONEY" to the "Higher Ups"...Storm's cause damage BUT when you ignore "Maintenance" WELLLLL...For those that think puttin Wires "UNDERGROUND"..They can do it..It will take YRS and lots of "MONEY" (increase's) and when its finish (BIG IF)...They will ask for more "INCREASE'S" because the system's OLD AND OUTDATED...The County an State needs to put their FOOT DOWN (or UP) on this and start havin them report to them WHERE the money for "Lineman and Tree Trimming" is....What's being CUT and WHY and outlaw these "BONUS MONEY" and give it to the real people that keep us with "ELECTRIC POWER" .......