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Maryland's Public Service Commission should consider reviewing utilities' tree-trimming practices, now that reports show 43 percent of power outages and 55 percent of service hours lost during last month's record-breaking snowstorms were caused by fallen trees or limbs.

That recommendation was among several the Office of the People's Counsel offered at a public hearing this week in Baltimore on how quickly companies restored electric service interrupted during storms that dumped several feet of snow on most of Maryland from Feb. 5 through Feb. 12.

Although some tree-trimming practices have improved since Hurricane Isabel, which caused many power outages in 2003, too many trees continue to spring up near power lines, and too many property owners resist cutting large or weak trees on their land near power lines, the commission's staff said in its report.

The agency's staff said utilities need to be more accurate in reporting causes of outages, under categories set in state law.

"Wind should not be used as the cause of an outage if it has broken a branch into, or blown a tree over and onto, overhead wires," staff noted in their report.

The Office of the People's Counsel — which represents the interests of residential electricity, gas, telephone, and water and sewer customers — also called for regulators to require utilities to provide details about where customers went without service the longest.

Although the PSC's staff concluded that electric utilities performed "satisfactorily" given the obstacles presented by snow and wind, commissioners themselves were more critical, particularly of Pepco, whose customers in Montgomery and Prince George's counties went a collective 3.59 million hours without electricity, while Baltimore Gas and Electric customers lost service for a collective 1.15 million hours.

Commissioners told Pepco executives they were too slow to call on crews from other utilities to help restore power, noting that Pepco sought mutual assistance from utilities outside the area on Saturday, Feb. 6, two days later than other companies.

"Other utilities asked on Thursday, you waited until Saturday," commission Chairman Douglas R.M. Nazarian scolded utility executives at Tuesday's hearing. "Seems like everybody else was ahead of you on this one."

Pepco Vice President of Operations Stanley Wisniewski said he was "fairly comfortable" with the decision based on the forecast that Thursday, which changed Friday to one of heavy, wet snow.

Commissioner Lawrence Brenner said he did not understand why Pepco did not call for more help Friday.

"It really appears you were caught with your pants down," Commissioner Harold D. Williams told Pepco executives.

The Office of the People's Counsel also said Pepco needs to examine its policies on calling in assistance before and during major storms.

And it said the PSC should ask Pepco to figure out why its customers who lost power waited an average of 13.6 hours — 5.5 hours longer than the average BGE customer and six to seven hours longer than the average customer of other utilities — before power was restored.

The consumer advocate said Pepco also should explain why its customer outage rate per mile of overhead circuits — 75.9 — was more than three times that of other Maryland utilities, including that of its sister company, Delmarva Power, which was next highest in the state at 23.1.

Brenner also said the company should "rethink" its decision not to require essential employees to stay at or near work as the storm approached.

Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative was criticized by the PSC staff for not detailing the causes of outages, as required by a state law.