Pepco’s been rated the most-hated company in America, so it should come as no surprise that most of its customers weren’t too impressed with how it responded to the June 29 derecho that caused over 700,000 households in the region to lose power. Writes WTOP:

Thirty-five percent of Pepco customers who lost power say the utility performed worse than expected, and 43 percent were not satisfied with Pepco’s efforts to keep them informed during the power outages and restoration efforts.

The poll, conducted by Heart+Mind Strategies, found more than 80 percent of Dominion Virginia Power and Baltimore Gas and Electric customers who lost power felt their utility performed as expected or better with respect to getting the lights back on. But only 65 percent of Pepco customers said they felt the utility met or exceeded expectations.

Still, the numbers seem to indicate at least some customers were willing to give Pepco the benefit of the doubt in how it responded to the mass power outages. But even there, Pepco may have dropped the ball in communicating with its customers: 57 percent of respondents said they were satisfied with Pepco’s communications, significantly less than the 77 percent and 88 percent that said the same of Dominion Virginia Power and BGE, respectively.

A Post poll found much the same in terms of Pepco’s public perception, but also found that many area residents are torn on whether or not to bury power lines.