In the modern era known as the 21st century, electrical power outages should be a thing of the past. Instead, customers of Duquesne Light Co., which serves Allegheny and Beaver counties, had to endure more than 3,563 outages last year.

We say "more than" because outages shorter than five minutes aren't counted in the Public Utility Commission's annual reports, yet consumers are well acquainted with the quickie power interruptions that may not thaw frozen foods but are enough to send digital clocks, timers and small appliances kerflooey. Regardless, the official total of 3,563 outages is an 8 percent increase over the number from 2004 -- a trend that's too big and headed in the wrong direction.

It's outrageous and unacceptable.

Yesterday, the same day that a Post-Gazette story reported that Duquesne Light plans to spend $500 million to upgrade its delivery system, a series of mishaps during early-morning storms shut off power to 2,700 customers, most of them in Shadyside. A pole-mounted switch disconnected in the city. A wire went down in West Homestead. A downed tree led to a transformer failure in Ross. Soon enough, nearly 3,000 people are showering in the dark, cut off from TV and radio and trying to resist opening the refrigerator.

Such power outages should be extremely rare. Instead, Duquesne Light customers are hit with 10 a day.

If consumers could choose from among several electricity distributors, competition might lead to better delivery with fewer disruptions. But no one would want the extra wires, poles and other equipment that would come with duplicative power grids.

That makes it incumbent on power distributors like Duquesne Light, which are regulated by the PUC and receive a stable financial return, to provide reliable, state-of-the-art service in exchange for their guaranteed revenues. With more than 3,563 outages a year, that's not happening.

Duquesne Light's plan to spend $500 million to improve its delivery system -- a cost that will be borne mostly by its customers anyway -- is long overdue. The PUC and the state consumer advocate should hold the utility accountable for drastically cutting the number of outages, or else make it face the loss of a different kind of power -- the power of money.