Watch The State Of The State In Its Entirety
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) -- Gov. Martin O'Malley again is blasting utilities that take too long to restore power outages.
O'Malley took time during his State of the State speech on Thursday to sharply criticize unreliable utilities.
O'Malley says moms and dads deserve better than to sit for days in freezing homes because the power hasn't been restored.
With O'Malley's strong backing, lawmakers introduced legislation Thursday to set reliability standards for electric customers. The governor is urging lawmakers to pass the bill, which also would impose fines for utilities that fail to reach standards.
Pepco, a utility that serves customers in Washington, and Prince George's and Montgomery counties, has been widely criticized for long delays restoring power.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
