Powerupmontco and Public Power for Montgomery County Presser Wed, Dec 11, 10:30 am

Update: The time and date for this Press Event has been changed to Wednesday, December 11th, at 10:30 am.

Powerupmontco and Public Power for Montgomery County will be holding a Press conference Tuesday, Dec. 10th, 12:45 p.m outside the County Council Office Building, 100 Maryland Ave., Rockville.

On May 5, 2006, fourteen-year-old Deanna Camille Green was at a church softball game in Druid Hill Park when she touched a fence connected to a buried power line and was electrocuted by 277 volts of energy.  It was determined that BG & E's neglected underground infrastructure had deteriorated to the point where fraying underground wires were transmitting hundreds of volts of electricity through the ground and were being conducted to surface structures.   Deanna's parents spent years petitioning for legislation to prevent this kind of tragedy from ever occurring again.

On May 22, 2012, the Maryland General Assembly passed and Governor O'Malley signed The Deanna Camille Green Act (The Act)  of 2012.  In response to that Act, the Maryland Public Service Commission created within COMAR,  20.50.11 the Deanna Camille Green Rule -- Contact Voltage Survey Requirement and Reporting.  This rule requires Pepco and other utilities, among other rules, to file a location map for CVRZs (Contact Voltage Risk Zones) within its service territory.  Pepco's map includes parts of downtown Bethesda, Rockville and Silver Spring.  A report should be issued shortly by the Public Service Commission identifying the voltage of certain objects (street lights and traffic signals) that could potentially be carrying voltage to street level.

There are several serious deficits with both the legislation and the COMAR regulations.  Powerupmontco and Public Power for Montgomery County will be holding a press conference on Tuesday, December 10, 2013 at 12:45 p.m. outside the County Council Building.  They will address problems within The Act and COMAR, as well as issues of great concern regarding compliance and transparency by the Public Service Commission and Pepco.