The Branch Office

Disclaimer: My father worked for Baltimore Gas and Electric from 1929 - 1977, with three years off to fight in World War II, after which he returned to work right where he left off. He retired with a generous pension and was able to enjoy the last 20 years of his life happily, so I am a loyal customer of Baltimore Gas and Electric. Wouldn't think of purchasing electricity or gas anywhere else.

Dad worked in the department where they decided how many generators needed to be running at how much capacity at any given moment to keep our lights and air conditioners running. Crank up too much, and it's wasted (you can't save electricity for later, no matter what size Ziploc bag you use). Crank  up too little, and the lights are dimmer than when Lepke got the chair.

Now, after the power is generated and distributed, it needs to get to your house, or you'll have to watch your Real Housewives show in the dark. What causes the power to go out?  Often, it's trees falling, as in from a storm, taking the lines down with them.

To forestall this, the electric company tries to keep ahead of the matter by trimming trees around power lines. And don't you know, the same people who would be hollering to high heaven when the power goes out are out there singing, "Woodman, woodman, spare that tree, touch not a single bough!"

It's necessary to keep the trees trimmed in order to keep the power running. But besides reducing the risk, there's another benefit to this.

The creatures at the Maryland Zoo are enjoying big old salad bar lunches these days, because BGE donates the branches and leaves to them. It's fresh and it's just like what the gorillas and giraffes and some others like to eat!

The electric company has to maintain more than 10,000 miles of overhead lines, so that's a lot of leafy greens headed to the Zoo. They drop it off twice a week, May through October, and that saves the Zoo $2,000 a week.

It's a win-win, says Geoffrey!