In later summer of 2003, my neighborhood was part of an area losing power as a result of Tropical Storm Isabelle.
It was still hot and sticky, and after about two days of outages, it was getting to us. We were just way too used to turning on the lights, opening the fridge, enjoying air conditioning or watching TV.
On day five, we heard the sound of trucks in our community. Sure enough, it was a power company from Indiana. My wife got in the car, drove to a bakery and bought boxes of cookies. It was only a few hours before the power was restored, and she took me and went to feed sweets to our new power company heroes.
Funny thing was, we weren’t the only ones there with refreshments. One of the Indiana linemen said, “I’ve gained 10 pounds here in Maryland.”
Timothy Lawrence, the Electric Utility Director for the Town of Berlin, knows exactly what it’s like to help another community in trouble.
Earlier in the month, Berlin was asked via Maryland Utility Group Mutual Assistance (MUGMA) conference call if it could assist Baltimore, Gas and Electric in restoring power to some 80,000 customers. MUGMA includes Alleghany Power, BGE, Town of Berlin, Town of Easton, Choptank, Hagerstown, Delmarva Power, Southern Maryland Electric Corp., the towns of Thurmont and Williamsport.
Lawrence was joined by line superintendent August Wienhold and first class lineman Claude Littleton in their mission to the Baltimore suburbs. The crew took a small bucket aerial lift vehicle, the large bucket truck and a digger derrick or crane with a pole trailer.
They reported to BGE in Odenton the evening of February 5. The next morning, they worked from 7 a.m. until 9 p.m., helping a BG&E crew in the suburb of Pikesville.
The next morning, they worked from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m.
When the Berlin crew reported to Baltimore, there were over 80,000 outages. When the crew returned home, Baltimore had 3,800 remaining.
“We did all right,” Lawrence modestly said. “We worked with a BG&E crew. They knew their systems and where they were going. They have laptops mounted inside of their vehicles.”
Lawrence said that working with BG&E and seeking trucks from as far away as far away as Rochester, N.Y. and Indiana, made he and the crew feel like they were part of something bigger doing good for a community in need.
“It builds good relationships among the customers and the utilities,” he said. “If a bad storm ever hit here and we needed help, I could make a phone call and get it.”
And hopefully the neighbors would bring out the cookies and refreshments.
After days in the dark, the men from Berlin deserve a huge thank you.
Some cake might be nice as well. That’s what worked years ago for the guys from Indiana.
And who knows, based on the weather hitting the state this week, Lawrence and his team could be on their way again.
It was still hot and sticky, and after about two days of outages, it was getting to us. We were just way too used to turning on the lights, opening the fridge, enjoying air conditioning or watching TV.
On day five, we heard the sound of trucks in our community. Sure enough, it was a power company from Indiana. My wife got in the car, drove to a bakery and bought boxes of cookies. It was only a few hours before the power was restored, and she took me and went to feed sweets to our new power company heroes.
Funny thing was, we weren’t the only ones there with refreshments. One of the Indiana linemen said, “I’ve gained 10 pounds here in Maryland.”
Timothy Lawrence, the Electric Utility Director for the Town of Berlin, knows exactly what it’s like to help another community in trouble.
Earlier in the month, Berlin was asked via Maryland Utility Group Mutual Assistance (MUGMA) conference call if it could assist Baltimore, Gas and Electric in restoring power to some 80,000 customers. MUGMA includes Alleghany Power, BGE, Town of Berlin, Town of Easton, Choptank, Hagerstown, Delmarva Power, Southern Maryland Electric Corp., the towns of Thurmont and Williamsport.
Lawrence was joined by line superintendent August Wienhold and first class lineman Claude Littleton in their mission to the Baltimore suburbs. The crew took a small bucket aerial lift vehicle, the large bucket truck and a digger derrick or crane with a pole trailer.
They reported to BGE in Odenton the evening of February 5. The next morning, they worked from 7 a.m. until 9 p.m., helping a BG&E crew in the suburb of Pikesville.
The next morning, they worked from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m.
When the Berlin crew reported to Baltimore, there were over 80,000 outages. When the crew returned home, Baltimore had 3,800 remaining.
“We did all right,” Lawrence modestly said. “We worked with a BG&E crew. They knew their systems and where they were going. They have laptops mounted inside of their vehicles.”
Lawrence said that working with BG&E and seeking trucks from as far away as far away as Rochester, N.Y. and Indiana, made he and the crew feel like they were part of something bigger doing good for a community in need.
“It builds good relationships among the customers and the utilities,” he said. “If a bad storm ever hit here and we needed help, I could make a phone call and get it.”
And hopefully the neighbors would bring out the cookies and refreshments.
After days in the dark, the men from Berlin deserve a huge thank you.
Some cake might be nice as well. That’s what worked years ago for the guys from Indiana.
And who knows, based on the weather hitting the state this week, Lawrence and his team could be on their way again.