Power Outages

[Writeshistory]

Lost power twice this evening in neighborhood east of Waldorf.
Last year I lost power at least seven times. One of them fried a 50 amp fuse and almost caused a fire. Has anyone else had issues with SMECO? And yes, I pay the bill
SMECO is the only game in town where I am but I suppose I can always put in a gas line to decrease my reliance on them.
I lived in several countries and had more reliable power there than where I am now.

 

[PeoplesElbow]

I've never lived some place that has as many power outages and flickers as we do in St Marys County.

 

[littlelady]

Lost power twice this evening in neighborhood east of Waldorf.
Last year I lost power at least seven times. One of them fried a 50 amp fuse and almost caused a fire. Has anyone else had issues with SMECO? And yes, I pay the bill
SMECO is the only game in town where I am but I suppose I can always put in a gas line to decrease my reliance on them.
I lived in several countries and had more reliable power there than where I am now.

How long have you lived in your house? When we lived in Calvert, we had very little issue with power outages; and no blowing of fuses. Have you checked your wiring, or box? Now, in my new house (Mont Cty), if I run the microwave with too many lights on, it trips the fuse, but it is a 20 or 30, and we know we need to replace. But, a 50? Maybe, your fuse wasn't/isn't right, faulty or something. Maybe, you should check the wiring. Just an observation/suggestion on my part. Hope you figure it out.

 

[officeguy]

I have found SMECO to be reliable and on the ball if there are outages. Now PEPCO otoh would leave you in the dark if it:
- snowed
- rained
- too much sunshine
- too little sunshine
.
.
.

It was third world quality utility service.


If you blow a 50amp fuse you have some faulty equipment or wiring. Get an electrician to check things out.

 

[Chris0nllyn]

Is it a fuse or circuit breaker?

Also, you do have a choice in power. You can buy it from anyone, but the infrastructure doesn't change. Recently, SMECO has been upgrading the main electrical distribution system but it doesn't fix any localized power issues that you may have.

Personally, I enjoy SMECO and have had very limited interruptions for decades. *knocks on wood*

 

[Hijinx]

2 days ago they hooked a smart meter on my line and the guy said we wouldn't have to call with a power outage , they would know immediately.
EHHHH!!!!! we will see I guess, but I don't get many outages and they are usually short in time. But I do have a generator just in case.

 

[GWguy]

2 days ago they hooked a smart meter on my line and the guy said we wouldn't have to call with a power outage , they would know immediately.

Well, the management system knows right away, but it still takes a person to address the hundreds of blinking red lights on the status board.

When I moved here in '94 we had power hits very often, and it was a royal pain as we had a greenhouse with orchids in winter. An UPS can only do so much. One time we got a satisfaction survey, and I didn't hold back pointing out their shortcomings. It wasn't too long after that that I realized the power hits had stopped. Really haven't had any to speak of in years, major storms excluded.