A clarification was added to this column on Sept. 14, 2011. It follows the column.

Disaster politics can be tricky business for elected officials as we’ve seen from their responses to Maryland’s earthquake, floods, hurricanes, blizzards and electrical power outages.

During Hurricane Irene’s visit to the Free State, Gov. Martin O’Malley took up virtual residence at Maryland’s emergency response center. He monopolized time on TV and radio stations. He wanted to show voters he was in command.

County executives, especially in the Baltimore area, were ubiquitous on TV and radio weather programs. Indeed, it looked like Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz, Howard County Executive Ken Ulman, Anne Arundel County Executive John Leopold and Harford County Executive David Craig spent the bulk of their time issuing individualized updates to media outlets.

Irene was good politics for Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, too. She used the city’s hurricane response to demonstrate why she should be re-elected next Tuesday — Baltimore’s primary election being tantamount to victory in November.

This time around, O’Malley proved a sympathetic ally to the power companies.

Instead of crucifying them, as he did in 2006 to win the governor’s mansion, O’Malley expressed sympathy for those who lost electricity, while explaining the magnitude of the storm made it extraordinarily difficult for power companies and the state to give everyone rapid relief.

That storm demonstrated the public’s growing demand for immediate satisfaction. The modern world is so dependent on electric power that we think it is an inalienable right (life, liberty and the pursuit of uninterrupted electricity).

But it’s not. Delivering energy to our homes and offices is a tricky, costly and complex business. Yet we demand that it be simple. We get furious if the lights go out for even a few minutes. Massive trees may have crashed through power lines, utility poles may have been toppled, debris disrupting the power grid may be strewn over hundreds of square miles.

That makes no difference to us. We want our power restored — NOW.

That’s one reason politicians are quick to jump on utility companies when there is a massive outage. They know their outrage will be well received by constituents.

One demand sure to be heard from state lawmakers is that power companies start burying more of their transmission lines underground.

Great idea. But who’s going to pay for this step, which costs 10 times as much as running overhead power lines?

Then again, why not have the government take over the job of delivering power to our homes and businesses?

That’s what an irate Montgomery County Council wants to do. That’s what socialist Sens. Jim Rosapepe of Prince George’s County and E. J. Pipkin of the Eastern Shore want to do.

Of course, seizing the local power companies won’t change anything. Such a move not only would cost taxpayers a fortune but would lead to a dreadful decline in customer service.

State and county bureaucracies are not known for responding with alacrity to consumer complaints, especially when they involve infrastructure repairs.

Example: Before agencies even noticed, 100 million gallons of raw sewage had spilled into the Patapsco River during the last hurricane due to broken, malfunctioning or out of service sewage pumping stations. By the time bureaucrats stemmed this outflow of human waste, perhaps twice as much effluent had polluted the Chesapeake Bay.

Imagine what utility repairs after Irene would have been like had local governments — desperate to trim staffing to balance their budgets — were put in charge.

Imagine if Montgomery County, instead of Pepco, had been responsible for restoring customer outages after last winter’s blizzard. As poorly as Pepco performed, local government would have had been even more dilatory.

It’s handy for politicians to flay local utilities for poor performance. Sometimes their complaints are deserved. Pepco flunked its test last winter. It has been getting a public pounding ever since and undergoing harsh scrutiny from the Public Service Commission.

But who would flay local and state governments if they were in charge of power restoration and botched it?

In an era of budget retrenchment, where is the manpower going to be found for emergency work? The National Guard isn’t prepared to take on that monumental task. It already has its hands full in weather emergencies getting roads reopened and saving lives.

Where is the money going to come from to make these repairs and pay emergency expenses? Are county councils and the state legislature ready to take on the job of raising utility rates?

Will they have the courage to tax citizens heavily to replace outdated power delivery systems? Will they pander to labor unions and require a fully unionized government utility work force, even though that could raise the cost to customers?

Before politicians get serious about utility takeovers — in Montgomery County or in the State House — they had better examine the real-life implications. They’ll find it’s better to kvetch about the poor performance of private power companies than to assume the job of satisfying the power-delivery demands of an impossible-to-please public.

Barry Rascovar is a State House columnist and communications consultant. His e-mail address is brascovar@hotmail.com.

State Sen. James C. Rosapepe of Prince George’s County is a Democrat representing District 21. Sen. E. J. Pipkin of the Eastern Shore is a Republican representing District 36. They are not members of the Socialist party. Their legislative proposals covered regulation of utilities, not a takeover or seizing of local power companies as proposed by a Montgomery County councilmember.