While nearly 1 million Americans experienced power outages on Sunday, the lights stayed on and heat kept flowing for the vast majority of Baltimore Gas and Electric Company customers who weathered Winter Storm Fern.

Just over 1,000 electric customers — out of 1.2 million — had their power go out at some point during the storm, Nick Alexopulos, a BGE spokesperson, told The Banner in an email. By Monday afternoon, there were just 37 affected customers.

With minimal outages during the storm, BGE called its performance “impressive.” One reason the area caught a break? The money the power company is spending to improve infrastructure, something that drives up utility bills.

More than 220 of those without power were customers in Howard County, while around two dozen were in Baltimore and Anne Arundel counties and an estimated seven Baltimore City customers didn’t have power.

“In this winter storm, the primary threat was snow and ice accumulation on power lines and trees,” Alexopulos said. “Thankfully, our system largely withstood that impact, which is the result of investments we continue to make to maintain and upgrade our equipment.”

A snowplow joined the list of threats on Sunday after one hit a utility pole in Randallstown, causing the lights to go out for around 60 customers, he said.

To prepare for the storm, BGE increased staffing for its field crews and tapped its sister utility company, Commonwealth Edison (ComEd), also owned by Exelon, for additional help when needed.

As the winter storm moved from the South to the Northeast, nearly 1 million people in Southern states experienced outages on Sunday evening, leaving around 800,000 people still in the dark on Monday morning, according to The Associated Press.

Maryland had some of the fewest power outages in the mid-Atlantic region, with 280 customers impacted across the state, according to poweroutage.com, a global outage tracking platform.

When BGE experiences a large-scale power outage, utility crews first ensure that hospitals or medical facilities have the power they need. BGE workers also look at impacted substations and transmission lines (the large towers that move mass amounts of energy) before focusing on the delivery lines (the wires that connect streets and homes) in the affected areas.

BGE’s “impressive performance is the result of ongoing investments to upgrade and harden our electric system, making it more resilient when severe weather hits,” Alexopulos said. And the lack of outages in the area is “a testament to the work of our lineworkers” and gas crews.

The snow and sleet have stopped for now, but frigid temperatures will continue through the week, which means snow and ice accumulation on trees and power lines are here to stay.

“Falling trees and tree limbs account for roughly half the outages in any given storm,” Alexopulos said. “If the wind picks up at any point, there’s certainly a higher risk for already weighed-down tree branches to fall on power lines and cause an outage.”

BGE recommends staying away from downed or low-hanging wires and calling the utility company at 877-778-2222 to report them. For those with homes equipped with natural gas, if you smell gas, call 911 and BGE at 877-778-7798.

While the impacts of the storm were minimal, it’s not without some consequence for BGE’s electric customers and 700,000 gas customers — who likely are cranking thermostats and using more energy as they hunker down in their homes.

Natural gas and electric delivery rates rose last month, leading to another spike in utility bills. An additional increase goes into effect next week, when temperatures are expected to still be quite low.

A January cold snap and snowstorm last year led to shockingly high bills and then weeks of Baltimore City Council and state lawmaker hearings.

“Your energy bill is a reflection of energy use,” Alexopulos said.

To keep bills more manageable, here are a few ways to lower energy usage:

• Manage and keep thermostats at a comfortable, but lower setting.
• Lower the temperature on your water heater.
• Open curtains to allow the sun to help heat your home.
• Set your ceiling fan to run clockwise and at a low speed to push heat down.
• Sign up for high usage alerts.