BGE Nears End of Derecho Outages; Warns of More to Come

The saga of the derecho storm-related power outages is about to come to an end, but the Baltimore Gas and Electric Company is warning customers to expect more outages, as there are storms in the forecast through the weekend.

According to the National Weather Service, there is a 40 percent chance of thunderstorms Saturday night and a 50 percent chance of storms Sunday.

"Customers are urged to make preparations in advance of likely new weather-related power outages," BGE said in a statement released Saturday.

BGE also announced Saturday that approximately 650 residents were still without power as a result of the storm last Friday.

Some areas have taken a more proactive stance in informing residents of current power outages. The City of Laurel has been

As of 7 p.m., nearly 7,000 BGE customers in Maryland were without power, but most of the outages were a result of subsequent thunderstorms and high temperatures, according to a statement from BGE.

According to numbers from BGE's website, 388 customers are without power in Howard County and 115 are without power in Carroll County.

Temperatures have , and both Howard and Carroll counties have opened cooling centers as much of the state is under an excessive heat warning from the National Weather Service.

"We sincerely thank all BGE customers for their patience and understanding as we have worked around-the-clock to restore electricity as safely and quickly as possible," said Jeannette M. Mills, vice president and chief customer officer for BGE.

Restoration priority has been given to larger outage areas and those customers who have been out of power for the longest amount of time, according to the statement issued by the company.

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