No promises, no commitments, no concessions.
That’s what Baltimore Gas & Electric representatives offered to a room of more than 70 Harwood residents who have faced lengthy recurring power outages this summer that cost them several hundreds of dollars in spoiled groceries, medication, and pet food; interfered with their internet access and ability to work from home; and left them without air conditioning during one of the hottest summers in recent memory.
In July and August, residents recorded more than five power outages of at least one hour but up to 12 hours. The outages occurred around a week or two apart, meaning residents often had groceries spoil just as soon as they replaced them.
“We have a lot of elderly people in the neighborhood. We also have a lot of people who telework in the neighborhood. We have a lot of houses that don’t have air conditioning to begin with,” Isaac Morrison, president of the Harwood Community Association, said in an interview.
“It’s unlike any previous year.”
In the short term, BGE said that they have now addressed the load issue that was causing the repeated outages by redistributing it to other parts of the circuit. But over the course of several months, they never communicated with residents that there was a known problem behind the outages, and that there could be an end in sight.
“It goes out, and it’s out for however long…and then we just have to wait and see,” said Leta Davis, a Harwood resident. “We’ll see Xfinity trucks come out, we’ll see BGE trucks come out and we just wait.”
“It goes out, and it’s out for however long…and then we just have to wait and see,” said Leta Davis, a Harwood resident. “We’ll see Xfinity trucks come out, we’ll see BGE trucks come out and we just wait.”
And when residents and elected officials asked BGE representatives how they were going to be compensated for the financial impacts of the outages, they didn’t have much to offer.
Chris Hitch, senior claims case manager, repeatedly pointed residents to the claim filing process online. But that claims form says that BGE specifically will not reimburse claims due to “service interruptions,” citing Maryland Public Service Commission regulations.
The only instance in which BGE would accept damage claims for loss of power is due to “willful default or neglect on its part.” BGE did not respond to questions asking if the Harwood outages would fall into that category.
“We’re not interested in filing a claim. This is our claim. You guys see the evidence of the claim. It’s evident in that we did not have power. You guys have talked about that you could see that,” one resident said.
“It’s literally a drop in the ocean for BGE to make this right,” another resident said. “I can’t believe you guys are standing up here and saying, bureautically, ‘We can’t do this.’”
“It’s literally a drop in the ocean for BGE to make this right,” another resident said. “I can’t believe you guys are standing up here and saying, bureautically, ‘We can’t do this.’”
To residents who have already attempted to pursue the claims process, Hitch’s words felt like running into yet another wall.
Harwood resident Melissa Schober said in an interview that when she had looked into the claims process after the third or fourth power outage, a BGE representative told her over the phone that they rarely paid them.
“So I decided not to pursue it, because the claim asks you to itemize every item in your refrigerator or freezer that was lost and estimate a cost, and then they want you to attach pictures. And by the time I had gotten the claim form, we had already had a couple of power outages and tossed my food long ago,” Schober said.
“The whole process of assembling photos and itemized lists of everything I had lost in my fridge for the fourth and then eventually fifth time just did not seem worth it to me knowing that a representative on the phone said it’s very very unlikely that I would get any money from this process.”
Councilwoman Odette Ramos, who represents Harwood, continued to push BGE representatives to compensate residents in some way, whether it was a credit on their energy bill or gift cards to grocery stores.
“There are over 2000 residents that were impacted by this,” Ramos said at the meeting. “Every single one has an address. Every single one is one of your customers. I think you can do the math based on the amount of power that they did not get, and be able to put it back on their bill.”
“It is not fair to put 2000 residents through the process of filling out a form that is not going to be taken into consideration into later on.”
In an interview, she expressed frustration that BGE knew the load issue was going to continue to be a problem and didn’t take steps to prevent outages.
“I think everybody understands weather-related outages, right? Trees fall, wind happens, those are acts of nature that nobody can control,” she said.
“But in this case, it seemed like it could very much be controlled, especially since BGE actually noticed the increased load over time and didn’t do anything about it.”
State Delegate Regina T. Boyce, who represents parts of north Baltimore, said she would be following up with the Public Service Commission to force a stronger conversation about what BGE could do for residents affected by the repeated outages.
Boyce noted that the commission’s regulations on utility companies don’t prevent them from compensating residents — it just limits their liability.
“This is not about everybody trying to get rich off of BGE. But sometimes a gesture is just nice, to say ‘You know what? We messed up,’’ Boyce said.
The lack of proactive communication or compensation from BGE has highlighted the inequitable relationship between the company and the city’s residents, who have no other option for their energy source.
Ramos pointed out that when the city’s Department of Public Works is doing work, they place fliers on houses impacted to give them notice. BGE doesn’t do the same.
“This is true for other institutions that are here, they’re not leaving, that feel like we need them more than they need us — [you] just can’t treat people this way,” she said.
Residents don’t feel like the company respects them as customers. Many of them said they didn’t even hear back from BGE about the outages until Ramos’s office intervened.
“We would have to actually get together and actually take action against BGE in order for something to happen. Because they hold no liability and they’re such a large corporation that they’re not listening to us,” Davis said.
“It’s like David fighting Goliath. We’re not going to get anywhere.”
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