Galvin Electricity Initiative Calls for Swift Action on Maryland Reliability Standards to Hold Utilities Accountable
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
March 15, 2011
CONTACT:
Gary Ritterstein, (202) 248-5453, gritterstein@vancomm.com
***INTERVIEW ALERT***
GALVIN ELECTRICITY INITIATIVE CALLS FOR SWIFT ACTION ON MARYLAND RELIABILITY STANDARDS TO HOLD UTILITIES ACCOUNTABLE
With the Maryland Senate Finance Committee set to hold hearings on the new electricity reliability bill today, Tuesday March 15 at 1 p.m., Galvin Electricity Initiative’s John Kelly will be available to discuss the need for greater accountability, the impact on customers and the path forward for improving system reliability. During his testimony before the House Economic Matters Committee, Kelly added his voice to the growing outcry for the Maryland Electricity Service Quality and Reliability Act which is designed to combat the alarming outbreak of power outages in recent years. Even PEPCo reportedly claims to be open to fair and reasonable standards. As soon as the legislation becomes law, the Public Service Commission can begin working with utility companies to improve reliability and power quality.
During the hearings, Kelly pointed to the Initiative’s research into best practices and prototypes, over the past five years, which demonstrate that dramatic power system improvements can be achieved without raising customer costs. In Illinois, the city of Naperville reduced their average duration of power outages from 120 minutes to an impressive 18 minutes by taking measures to move lines below ground, provide redundant supply to customers, and install smart switches to limit outages from cascading into major blackouts. Twenty-five other states have already enacted reliability standards.
WHO: John Kelly, deputy director of the Galvin Electricity Initiative and founder of
the National Energy Center for Sustainable Communities
WHY: “The prolonged outages in Maryland and the DC-metro area posed very real
dangers in the form of exposed fallen power lines, traffic accidents and
other threats to customer safety,” said Kelly. “These blackouts cost the
region significant economic losses in the form of business downtime,
damaged goods, and spoiled food. These unintended, albeit inevitable,
consequences can add up to an astronomical cost to our economy —
outages cost homes and businesses more than $150 billion a year
nationwide.”
WHEN: Interviews are available by request. Contact Gary Ritterstein at
202-248-5453 or gritterstein@vancomm.com.
The Galvin Electricity Initiative was launched by former Motorola CEO Robert W. Galvin to transform our electric power system into one that is reliable, efficient, secure and clean, and meets the needs of 21st century consumers. In 2011, the Initiative continues to spark a migration toward a consumer-driven electric power system that is based on quality leadership The goal is to promote grid modernization through policy reform and the development of Perfect Power smart microgrids that place top priority on serving consumers and businesses with reliable, high-quality, clean power. For more information about the Galvin Electricity Initiative, visit www.galvinpower.org, “like” the Initiative on Facebook (www.facebook.com/galvinpower) and follow the Initiative on Twitter at http://twitter.com/perfectpower.
