Potomac community decides to solve power outage problem on their own

 Potomac community decides to solve power outage problem on their own

POTOMAC, Md. - People who are "mad as hell" at Pepco for losing power for days during this year's winter and summer storms aren't just shouting out their windows, like Peter Finch's character suggests in the 1976 movie "Network," they're actually doing something about.

More than two dozen members of the River Falls community in Potomac have decided to plug in-to generators.

"After the snowfall, we lost power for two days," says Don Sladkin. "We couldn't get out, I didn't have a SUV."

He says he was able to get out okay, but some of his neighbors had more frightening moments, including a medical emergency.

Pepco has gotten an earful this summer, both from residents and local politicians, after this winter's massive snowfall and this summer's powerful storms knocked power out for some people in the region for days.

The company says they've heard the complaints, and have a plan to improve reliability.

But that may be too little, too late for these residents. Sladkin says that somebody suggested on a local listserv that they start buying generators.

"I began to get a lot of people every day, you know 'sign me up, sign me up.' So, we've got more than two dozen families who want to install a standby generator in the community."

The community is now looking at how to get the bigegst bang for their buck, and is hoping that they can buy in bulk to cut expenses.

article by WTOP's Kate Ryan contributed to this report.