Annapolis Power Outages Left 44K+ Without Electricity, But Businesses Stayed Open

This story was last updated Thursday at 11:10 p.m.

ANNAPOLIS, MD — Thousands of Annapolis area residents lost power Thursday afternoon and evening, according to Baltimore Gas & Electric/Exelon.

Patch saw the Anne Arundel County outage total eclipse 44,000 on the Maryland Department of Emergency Management tracker. Other estimates put it at 30,000 more.

State Sen. Sarah Elfreth (District 30) said BGE told her that 75,000 customers were without power at the peak.

About 356 customers were still without power as of 11:10 p.m.

Of the 41,000 homes that lost power Thursday afternoon, more than 21,000 were restored as of 8 p.m. Thursday, BGE said. Remaining outages are expected to be restored Thursday night or overnight.

The utility said the outages were caused by equipment failure and not the result of storm damage or heavy usage.

Some homes may temporarily lose power as restoration efforts bring neighborhoods back online.

"Through switching, we were able to restore service to about a third of the customers," BGE said, according to Elfreth at 5:40 p.m. "We are working to repair the damaged transmission line. In addition we are looking to restore a redundant line that we had taken out of service due to planned maintenance and do additional switching/rerouting to restore service."

A news release from the City of Annapolis said the widespread outage began around 3:15 p.m. Authorities believe a power disruption at the Cedar Park substation affected the Annapolis peninsula and surrounding communities.

Patch contacted local businesses to see how the outages affected them.

Rams Head Tavern lost power but stayed open for cash sales.

"Power's out, but we're still open!" the West Street bar said on Facebook around 4:40 p.m. "Beer is cold, get it while it lasts!"

Buddy's Crabs & Ribs on Main Street had power as of 4:45 p.m.

"It’s dinner time & you’re hungry!" Buddy's said on Facebook. "WE HAVE POWER & A/C….head downtown and relax while BGE works on restoration."

The AMC Theaters in Westfield Annapolis said it also had power as of 7:10 p.m. and so did the rest of the mall.

Many traffic signals in and around the City of Annapolis went out.

Patch saw out traffic signals near the Westfield Annapolis mall around 3:30 p.m. These outages caused delays along the nearby sections of Generals Highway.

Drivers should use caution and treat intersections as four-way stops when lights are out. Some intersections along the Forest Drive corridor were restored quickly (Chinquapin Round Road, South Cherry Grove Avenue and Spa Road).

Residents should not call 9-1-1 unless there is an active emergency.

The Anne Arundel County Office of Emergency Management is supporting Annapolis OEM and taking non-emergency calls at 410-222-0600.

Food safety tips for perishable food items:

1. Keep the refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible to maintain the cold temperature.
   • The refrigerator will keep food cold for about 4 hours if it is unopened.
   • A full freezer will keep the temperature for about 48 hours (24 hours if it is half full) if the door remains closed.
2. If you plan to eat refrigerated or frozen meat, poultry, fish, or eggs while they are still at safe temperatures, it is important that each item is thoroughly cooked to a safe minimum internal temperature to ensure that any foodborne bacteria that may be present are destroyed. However, if perishable food has been held at room temperature for 2 hours or more (or 1 hour if outdoor temperatures are above 90 º F) — discard it.

Once Power Is Restored:

1. If an appliance thermometer was kept in the freezer, check the temperature when the power comes back on. If the freezer thermometer reads 40° F or below, the food is safe and may be refrozen.
2. If a thermometer has not been kept in the freezer, check each package of food to determine its safety. You can’t rely on appearance or odor. If the food still contains ice crystals or is 40° F or below, it is safe to refreeze or cook.
3. If the power was out for no more than 4 hours, refrigerated food should be safe as long as the doors were kept closed. When the power comes back on, check the temperature in the refrigerator or of the food. Discard any refrigerated perishable food (such as meat, poultry, seafood, milk, eggs, or leftovers) that has been at refrigerator temperatures above 40°F for 4 hours or more. Perishable foods with temperatures that are 45°F or below (measured with a food thermometer) should be safe, but should be cooked and consumed as soon as possible.