Data suggests state utilities are more reliable than others
Connecticut’s two power companies are better at keeping the lights on than most of their counterparts in New England.
An analysis by Hearst Connecticut Media of power outage data shows that Connecticut Light & Power, an Eversource subsidiary, was ranked among the top five most reliable power companies three times between 2014 and 2018. That ranking dipped to sixth least reliable in 2018 and fourth least reliable in 2016.
UI was ranked as one of the five most reliable utilities during all five years, and the most reliable in 2017.
“According to some metrics they have done better,” said state Sen. Norm Needleman, D-Essex, the chairman of the Legislature’s Energy and Technology Committee, referring to the state’s utilities.
“Some of the grid-hardening efforts have allowed them to improve and they are doing a much better job on limited outages,” Needleman said. “But when it comes to widespread outages, their system just falls apart.”
The reliability data provides perspective in the wake of widespread outages that followed Tropical Storm Isaias in August, which left 800,000 customers without power at one point.
Some waited more than eight days before the lights came back on.
The outages drew a barrage of complaints about slow restoration and inadequate preparation and prompted an ongoing investigation by state regulators.
Lawmakers last week passed the so-called “Take Back the Grid” bill that created a performance-based system for evaluating and regulating utilities, new penalties and a mandate to reimburse customers for food lost during long outages.
Chuck Eves, vice president for electric system operations at Avangrid, UI’s parent company, said the power company did its best to restore power after Isaias.
“We understand the hardship our customers go through and we are more and more dependent on electricity,” Eves said. “We established our storm plan, and the investigation will show that we delivered according to that storm plan.”
Keeping lights on
Data collected by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, a clearinghouse for energy related data and analysis, shows that between 2014 and 2018 CL&P only once exceeded the national average for the duration of outages.
CL&P customers in 2018 were without power an average of 13 hours, compared to the national average of 5.8 hours. The average includes major storms. The reason for the spike was a rash of tornadoes, macrobursts and microbursts that hit specific areas around the state, particularly Litchfield County and the New Milford area.
UI’s outage average for 2018 also rose, to 4.5 hours, but remained below the national average.
During the other years, the duration of outages by both UI and CL&P fell well below the national average.
The Hearst analysis of power company reliability data was based on outage frequencies calculated by the utilities and reported to federal and state regulators. The analysis included major storm events and compared 14 investor owned utilities.
The results show that in 2014 CL&P was the fourth most reliable power company in New England, with an average yearly outage of 1.6 hours; fifth most reliable in 2015; and fourth most reliable in 2017.
The company’s worst year was 2016, when CL&P fell to fourth least reliable. CL&P was sixth least reliable in 2018, the year of the microbursts and tornadoes.
UI was consistently ranked among the top five most reliable power companies in the region.
Eves, the UI vice president, said the utility has spent years replacing aging equipment and trimming trees to increase reliability.
“With the October snowstorm and Hurricane Sandy (2011 and 2012), there was a lot of discussion over tree trimming,” Eves said. “We have been actively doing that and we are halfway through our 12-year program. That’s very effective.”
Mitch Gross, an Eversource spokesman, said resiliency efforts since 2013 have reduced outages.
“We’ve been working non-stop making targeted investments in the electric system, such as installing stronger, more durable utility poles, replacing hundreds of miles of electric lines with thicker, stronger covered wire, and carrying out our robust treetrimming program to ensure customers have reliable power,” Gross said.
“Connecticut customers experienced a significant improvement in reliability in 2019 — the system’s strongest performance year since 2013, which was also the first full year following the merger in 2012 between Northeast Utilities and NSTAR Electric & Gas,” Gross added. “While we understand the frustration that
many of our customers and political leaders feel because of Tropical Storm Isaias, statistics confirm our electric delivery system reliability is very strong.”
Big storms matter
Needleman, the energy committee chairman, said both utilities “have done OK” during runof-the-mill outages.
But, he stressed, their poor performance during big storms is why changes in how the utilities are evaluated and regulated are needed. “The strategy Eversource executes, which is to have resources scattered through their three states, makes us very, very vulnerable,” Needleman said, referring to states where Eversource owns power companies.
“Chinsing on staff and not committing to pre-stage in the state takes days to get (outside crews) here,” he added.
State Rep. Joe Gresko, D-Stratford and an energy committee member, also said both utilities handle routine outages well. “Their aggressive tree trimming program is directly responsible for lowering total hours without power,” he noted.
But Gresko said they fall short when dealing with major storms that leave huge portions of the state without power, in part because of insufficient staffing and equipment.
“They sold off a lot of equipment to the point where they didn’t have any augers (to erect power poles) and had to go buy some,” he said.
The bill, Gresko added, should improve response during big events. “To be performance-based brings them to a higher standard,” he said.
Connecticut is not alone or unique in complaining about power company performance.
In 2018, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities faulted the state’s utilities for not preparing for winter storms the previous
year, saying extended outages could have been avoided or minimized.
Massachusetts fined three electric utilities an unprecedented $24.8 million for a slow response to 2011’s Tropical Storm Irene and the October snowstorm that left millions without power across New England. The fine was the highest ever issued by the state.
And a 2018 Rhode Island report concluded that National Grid moved too slowly to bring in crews and adapt while restoring power during an October 2017 snowstorm.
Other states struggle
While customers in every New England state lose power each year, the frequency varies greatly. Federal data shows that utility companies in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont are consistently ranked as the least reliable.
Emera Maine, now known as Versant Power, was New England’s least reliable utility in 2016 and 2014, federal data shows. Customers were without power an average of 36 hours in 2014 and 17 hours in 2016.
Maine in 2017 was dubbed least reliable electric company in the nation, with an average power outage of 45 hours. The same year CL&P had an outage average of just under 6 hours and UI’s average was 1.3 hours.
Avangrid, UI’s parent company, owns Central Maine Power, the state’s dominant utility. Eversource owns Public Service of New Hampshire, that state’s dominate power company.
Susan Faloon, a spokeswoman for the Maine Public Utilities Commission, said the heavily forested nature of the state and storm frequency contributes to low reliability.
“We had a windstorm in October (2017) which resulted in the largest statewide power outage ever in Maine,” Faloon said. “That storm resulted in a FEMA
Disaster Declaration for 13 Maine counties.”
Eves said regulators in Maine also set a safety, or reliability, standard that allows nearly three times as many yearly outages than regulators allow in Connecticut.
The reason, Eves explained, is a trade-off between the cost of tree trimming and other steps to reduce outages and the price of electricity.
Still, despite regulations, tree trimming and infrastructure replacements, power outages may become more frequent in the coming years.
The federal government’s Fourth National Climate Assessment says the nation’s energy system “is projected to be increasingly threatened by more frequent and longer-lasting power outages” because of climate change.
A report by Climate Central found that between the mid-1980s and 2012, blackout rates increased tenfold. From 2003 to 2014, an estimated 147 million people were affected by weather-related blackouts, the organization said.
“Americans will likely experience longer and more frequent power interruptions,” the American Society of Civil Engineers predicted in a 2017 report.
Gross said Eversource understands the challenge of worsening weather.
“While we can’t predict what Mother Nature will bring to Connecticut, it appears that storms are more intense — causing more damage and therefore, power outages — which is why our ongoing efforts to fortify the electric system are so vital,” Gross said.
Needleman agreed that climate change is making it harder to keep the lights on.
“The light bulb went off after Hurricane Sandy for me,” Needleman said.