Brochin Calls for Hearing on Hurricane Irene Outages

Sen. Jim Brochin is calling for a hearing by the Baltimore County Senate delegation on efforts to restore electrical power in the wake of Hurricane Irene.

Brochin called for the hearing in a Sept. 6 letter to Sen. Kathy Klausmeier, a Perry Hall Democrat and chairwoman of the county Senate delegation. (See attached document.)

"Like other state senators, my district had communities that did not get their power restored for eight days, not to mention all those parents who were inconvenienced by the fact that so many county schools were unable to open for days," wrote Brochin, a Towson Democrat. "With record profits, bonus payments, and a pending merger that will net top executives millions of dollars, it is beyond my comprehension why communities have to sacrifice when BGE seems to be doing so well."

Brochin asks that any hearing deal with issues surrounding the time taken to respond to the storm, why BGE didn't contract more workers from other companies around the country, and why the power company didn't prioritize schools for power restoration as it did hospitals.

Brochin asks for the hearing to be scheduled during the special session on congressional redistricting now planned for the week of Oct. 17.

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