Darnestown Resident Represents Civic Associations On Pepco Work Group

In response to frustrations from residents after this year's many power outages, County Executive Ike Leggett formed a working group to investigate problems and recommend changes to the county's utility service.

Arthur Slesinger, Darnestown resident and chairperson of the Darnestown Civic Association Committee on Utility Reliability, was appointed to the group to represent County civic associations.

According to a news release, the group will be tasked with investigating the causes for frequent outages, compare Pepco's record to other utility services, and recommend improvements.

The committee will look at Pepco's actions in several areas, including preventative measures like tree trimming, communication of problems, use of contractors, and general infrastructure.

The first meeting was held on Monday, Oct. 3. Slesinger said it was an opportunity for the members to meet each other and learn about the objective of the group.

In a statement, Leggett said it is important to look back at why past outages occurred to ensure the same will not be repeated.

"While Pepco may be focused on these individual storms, we can't afford to stop there. We have to figure out why Pepco power outages occur regularly, on even the nicest of days, threatening life, inconveniencing families, and costing our businesses millions," he said in a news release.

The committee is chaired by Norman R. Augustine, the former CEO of Lockheed Marten and a resident of Montgomery County.

Here is the full roster of the group's members:

Gerald Fitzpatrick -- National Institute of Standards and Smart Grid expert who serves on the Federal Smart Grid Task Force.

Michal Ilana Freedhoff -- staff member on the House Energy and Commerce Commission

Keith Haller -- communications expert

Scott Hempling -- executive director of the National Regulatory Research Institute

Brian Lang -- representing the development and property management industries

Carmen Larsen -- co-chair, Latin American Advisory Group

Steve Richter -- electric utility industry consultant

Debbie Robins -- Century Distributors, Inc. representing large employers

Arthur Slesinger -- representing County civic associations

Scott Ullery -- Rockville City Manager representing County municipalities

Jim Young -- Marriott International representing the hospitality industry