WASHINGTON – The pressure is on for utilities to bury their power lines so customers don’t sweat in the dark.

On Tuesday, six Maryland county executives and Baltimore’s mayor sent a letter to state regulators calling for utilities to bury their power lines.

The “Big 7” – those who signed the letter – are Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, and the executives of Montgomery, Prince George’s, Howard, Baltimore, Harford and Anne Arundel counties.

They also want the Public Service Commission to examine staffing levels at power companies.

The letter states that while utilities can’t maintain worst-case scenario staffing levels, there are questions about whether utilities have enough staffers to prepare for storms and handle weather emergencies.

The same letter also calls on power companies to provide more information on the location of outages.

WTOP’s Kate Ryan contributed to this report. Follow Kate Ryan and WTOP on Twitter.

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