Pepco Waited To Call In Reinforcements Amid Storm

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Pepco waited until hours after other utilities to call for reinforcements during this week's winter storm.

The Washington Post reports that Dominion Virginia Power began moving its own crews closer to the area as early as Tuesday, and Baltimore Gas & Electric had arranged for 400 extra workers by 5 p.m. Wednesday. But Pepco did not ask for help until an 8:30 p.m. conference call Wednesday.

Pepco's vice president overseeing the crew callouts, Michael Maxwell, told the newspaper that people should not try to "make something of the time differences."

Company outage reports show BGE and Dominion Virginia Power had restored electricity to a greater percentage of their customers who lost power.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)