[{"_1":2,"_88":-5,"_89":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6485196,"mediaKeyId","5448630-a3bef17fc101d497a625715053a5d218","parentId",5448630,"title","PSC staff: Most Maryland electric companies met 2024 reliability standards but flagged inspection and budgeting issues","audioSeconds",2372,"startMs",302000,"endMs",2674000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=5448630-a3bef17fc101d497a625715053a5d218&start=302&end=2674","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5448630-a3bef17fc101d497a625715053a5d218/thumbnail_302000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6485196/Maryland/PSC-staff-Most-Maryland-electric-companies-met-2024-reliability-standards-but-flagged-inspection-and-budgeting-issues","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6485196-289c891df16a8af20a01bc72f1b71484/orig.mp4?Expires=1775524319&Signature=Gb1bqdTAUsX9Gj34i~fwdcOfseILHmKL~IT3hqlrLgkCkLx1Hwmq8wbQr61kPLySCPrQHjGP1k5xDC~FCBbojK9GQeOIFNkN1evIZciheYPf7Oui3DIQk6sHvtCok5sra6WXq3l0dtm2994svAa9~pvLxbPKE-zf6zbNHFmNWFk0lcbsslJShDHt-g7ZJeBF2uhA1dIj0VN776K04nCsCrAHrKw6CpD8yJJ7n8lXeGu6BOONfJAAOdjZk2VngPvg0e5nhlS98xeMOzb5YwuMp9HfZHHlrjYErJRIlT4RgCEgUOOyfefYlk1STMcpXHSqGdVILfwZGjJ5KK7-w9jAkw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Public Service Commission, MD","date","2025-07-22T19:43:26.96Z","article","Staff for the Maryland Public Service Commission presented its review of the 2024 annual reliability performance reports from the state’s five investor-owned electric companies during a July 10, 2025, public hearing.

Staff found the utilities met or exceeded eight of 11 performance standards in 2024 but identified repeated problems in a few areas that require follow-up. The presentation covered safety and service metrics, missed periodic equipment inspections, corrective action plans submitted by utilities, major outage event reporting, and the status of related Commission working groups.

Staff’s technical lead, Deandre Wilson, summarized the overall findings: “the electric companies met or exceeded a majority of the reliability standards,” while noting the most important exceptions. The staff filing was submitted to the docket on July 8, 2025, and staff told the Commission it would focus its oral briefing on where companies failed to meet standards, the companies’ corrective action plans, and the status of reliability and resiliency working groups.

Why it matters: the annual reports and staff review inform the Commission’s regulatory oversight of utility operations and feed into related rulemaking and rate-case proceedings. When utilities miss inspections or undercount equipment, customers can face increased safety and outage risk; when budgets diverge from actual spending, rate-setting and long-term planning become more difficult.

Key findings from staff’s review included:
- Performance: All five utilities met the Commission’s service-interruption, downed-wire response and customer-communication standards and met vegetation-management minimums. Three utilities—BGE, Pepco and Delmarva—self-reported missed periodic equipment inspections. Potomac Edison did not meet the safety-related targets for 2024 and showed an upward trend in outage frequency and duration.
- Inspections and corrective actions: Each company that missed inspections submitted corrective action plans; staff said it would recommend amendments for Pepco and Delmarva, including field checks, monthly progress reports to staff and more frequent internal audits of contractor work. Staff told the Commission it expects companies to complete missed 2024 inspections by the end of calendar year 2025.
- Major outage events and MOE (major outage event) rulemaking: Staff reported that none of the companies declared a major outage event in 2024 but that several had major-outage-event days. Staff is leading a work group to propose COMAR revisions for major-event standards and filed a petition for rulemaking on June 23, 2025; the Commission extended the comment period and scheduled a hearing on the proposal.
- Budget and capital trends: Staff noted that some utilities’ actual capital spending exceeded the budgets used when the Commission set the 2024 reliability standards; commissioners asked staff to provide more detail on storm-related budgeting and how storm response is reflected in company budgets.

Staff’s recommendation to the Commission was to accept the 2024 annual reliability performance reports as filed, accept most corrective action plans with the staff-proposed amendments, and require additional reporting where needed. Staff said it found Pepco’s remedial plans addressing abandoned-call rates and downed-wire response from the July 28–Aug. 1, 2023 event acceptable.

Staff also reported that eight of the 11 performance standards had been met or exceeded statewide and that long‑term reliability trends are positive for most utilities, though Pepco’s recent safety and reliability trends have declined. Staff concluded its presentation by offering specific, itemized recommendations for follow-up actions and filings.

The Commission and staff will use these annual reports and the working-group output to inform rulemaking and future oversight actions.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","9353 Annual Reliability Hearing - 7/22/2025","oneSentenceSummary","Staff for the Maryland Public Service Commission presented its review of the 2024 annual reliability performance reports from the state’s five investor-owned electric companies during a July 10, 2025, public hearing.","taxTitle","Public Service Commission, Independent Agencies, Organizations, Executive, Maryland","taxId",80344,"location","Maryland","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6485192,"PSC staff orders deeper checks after utilities report missed periodic equipment inspections",333,913000,1246000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5448630-a3bef17fc101d497a625715053a5d218&start=913&end=1246","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5448630-a3bef17fc101d497a625715053a5d218/thumbnail_913000.jpg","/articles/6485192/Maryland/PSC-staff-orders-deeper-checks-after-utilities-report-missed-periodic-equipment-inspections","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6485192-1a93fc176134f857aab0c7ea03e6f640/orig.mp4?Expires=1775524319&Signature=Rh~3gZx0qennvuei5Own1ghv-NAKecgNrHuw9Xz3ZJ3OoUbvKNOApvotA16bE~tMektCd9RqVVv~9QOUComsoKvBlLGVVEvQdCfBowrHa2-42-G-FO19sgAjhfU-MOuRA~VlYINvBJJXcmcO-~94bammHb-EXUHNfp0676WYljcv-W3BhaJ9e838NgoZEUxgBVGUqs7mk~DYtlOI3Ay6ogYuDCZ1-V8l~2A~Yyjpu48V8GdnILQSt0sSI3k3y-Z4oGyCVJpJeXzRFJ3nFtW1bXlf-0bnRBEGz~YAhH2zep5WIVCBf0RRLoQ44Undo1Auz7n34YmjrgstaXkY~C3g1w__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","During the July 10, 2025 annual reliability hearing, Public Service Commission staff and utility witnesses described how three utilities self‑reported failures to meet the periodic equipment inspection standard and presented corrective action plans.

Why it matters: periodic equipment inspections are an explicit COMAR requirement designed to identify safety hazards and failing equipment before they cause outages or safety incidents. Staff told the Commission missing inspections has been linked to software and data‑migration issues and that more frequent verification is needed.

What staff reported: Pepco and Delmarva told staff their missed inspections stemmed from systematic data‑integration failures associated with a 2019 asset‑management system conversion and misalignment between GIS and the asset‑management database (AS8). Pepco also cited a misalignment between its manhole‑inspection program and underground‑radio‑transformer inspection cycles. BGE reported three missed pad‑mount transformer inspections discovered while the company implemented its 2023 corrective plan; BGE said the missed items were not causes of outages and attributed the lapse to a manual data‑transfer error.

Staff recommended—and told the Commission it would seek an order requiring—three specific amendments to Pepco’s and Delmarva’s corrective action plans:
- Field verification: conduct system‑wide field checks to reconcile GIS and AS8 records and confirm the location and status of equipment in the field.
- Monthly progress reporting: file monthly reports with staff detailing completion of the “work‑down” plans, lessons learned and any issues found.
- More frequent audits: perform quarterly internal audits (or more frequently) of preventative‑maintenance inspection plans and contractor work to detect and address missed inspections earlier.

Utilities’ response and timeline: both Pepco and Delmarva said they would implement a multifaceted approach—strengthening oversight, improving asset‑management tools and completing missed inspections. Both companies committed to complete missed 2024 inspections by the end of calendar year 2025. BGE said it completed the three pad‑mount transformer inspections and proposed quarterly expanded audits and cross‑checks.

Commissioner concerns and staff rationale: Commissioners pressed staff about whether the monthly reports give sufficient visibility and whether civil penalties were warranted. Staff told the Commission the utilities had been self‑reporting missed inspections since the Commission codified self‑reporting; staff has been reviewing companies’ monthly work‑down reports and conducting annual record inspections. Based on the level of company engagement and the completion of prior corrective action plans, staff said it was not recommending civil penalties for the recent misses but signaled that continued noncompliance could prompt stronger enforcement.

Selected quote: “We found that the utilities were conducting audits toward the tail end of the year… staff is requesting that the utilities have a more frequent meeting, more often, maybe quarterly, to then perform an audit to look at the work that the contractors are performing,” Deandre Wilson, acting manager, grid reliability and modernization, told the Commission.

Clarifying details from the hearing:
- BGE discovered three missed pad‑mount transformer inspections in 2024; inspections found no required repairs.
- Pepco and Delmarva trace missed inspections to a 2019 asset‑management system conversion and GIS/AS8 misalignment; both companies pledged to finish missed 2024 inspections by 2025‑12‑31.

The Commission did not issue an immediate written order at the hearing. Staff asked the Commission to adopt its recommended amendments so staff can monitor monthly progress and require field verification and more frequent audits.","Staff told the Commission that BGE, Pepco and Delmarva self‑reported missed periodic inspections. Staff accepted corrective action plans but asked Pepco and Delmarva to add field checks, monthly progress reports and more frequent audits; BGE's smaller recent miss was attributed to manual data transfer error.","actionData","errors"]

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PSC staff: Most Maryland electric companies met 2024 reliability standards but flagged inspection and budgeting issues

PSC staff orders deeper checks after utilities report missed periodic equipment inspections