The state Public Utility Commission this morning voted unanmimously to review how the 11 electricity-distribution companies in Pennsylvania respond to storms, outages and customer inquiries.
The review is in response to the loss of power by 300,000 Western Pennsylvanians due to a violent windstorm Sept. 14. Some of them did not have their electricity restored until Monday.
The companies affected by that outage included Duquesne Light Co., Allegheny Power Co., Pennsylvania Power, and Pennsylvania Electric.
The review will look at each of the state's electric companies to determine how they respond to storms, their power-restoration practices and customer communications.
The commission will require the 11 electricity-distribution companies to respond to 10 questions within 15 days. The questions involve the number of personnel employed on repair crews; how they communicate with the PUC, consumers, local officials and the media during an outage; and their crisis-communication plans, among other queries.
Moreover, the commission will hold a public hearing in the Pittsburgh area to receive consumer input. The time and location had not been determined.
First Published: September 25, 2008, 4:00 p.m.
