Officials want utility reports

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The number of power outages dropped sharply yesterday, but political momentum turned against utility companies eight days after Hurricane Isabel knocked out electricity to more than 1 million customers in the metropolitan area.

Thousands of people remained without power last night. About 11,130 customers in Northern Virginia, 9,000 in Montgomery County, 4,000 in Prince George's County and 3,000 in the District had no electricity.

The situation prompted Maryland utility regulators yesterday to order power companies to submit written reports in three weeks detailing how they responded to Isabel, which hit the region as a tropical storm.

Meanwhile, elected officials in Virginia yesterday joined officials in the District and Maryland in calling for explanations from utilities about how they prepared for and responded to the storm.

"Restoring power is a dangerous job, but it isn't a dangerous job to get information out to people," said Fairfax County Supervisor Penelope Gross, Mason District Democrat. "A lot of the problems we had were just plain communication issues with the utilities that could probably be solved pretty easily."

Mrs. Gross yesterday called for a "power summit" between elected officials and Dominion Virginia Power representatives once electricity is restored. She joined a growing number of political figures in the region targeting power companies in Isabel's aftermath.

Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan, a Democrat, held a news conference yesterday to mark the opening of a temporary center at 8757 Georgia Ave. in Silver Spring for storm victims who need federal assistance.

Mr. Duncan also used the opportunity to criticize the Potomac Electric Power Co. (Pepco) for the third straight day. He requested a "full-blown investigation" in a letter to Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. on Wednesday.

"We're still very frustrated," Mr. Duncan said yesterday. "We still have 25 road segments blocked out by trees. We thought we had that worked out with Pepco. That's why I'm upset."