Hurricane!

Hurricanes have made it difficult to provide power, but Conectiv ranks near the bottom of the pack for power companies.

Conectiv has done poorly in the annual J.D. Power survey for the last several years, ranking below the national average and low when compared to East Coast utilities.

For the past two years, the companies have had to deal with widespread blackouts caused by hurricanes. The current ranking may have been influenced by those events, said Conklin.

In response to the worst blackout in company history, state regulators ordered Conectiv last year to change the way it responds to massive power outages. That blackout in September 2003, a result of Hurricane Isabel, knocked out power to 109,000 customers for up to a week.

Anger at the company built up as the blackout dragged on and customers were not given any information about when their power would be restored, a Conectiv policy that has since been reversed.