Complaints show struggles after outages
PURA wraps up investigation of response to Tropical Storm Isaias
A quadriplegic cancer survivor was left without power as the town's first selectwoman tried in vain to get the Eversource power company to prioritize the resident's case.
In another town, 200 roads were blocked for a week, putting scores of residents in danger of being closed off from emergency medical and law enforcement personnel.
One woman pleaded with United Illuminating for help on her 13th day without electricity.
Personal struggles from the weeks-long power outages after last year’s Tropical Storm Isaias are spelled out in hundreds of complaints submitted to state regulators, an examination of the documents by Hearst Connecticut Media shows.
Connecticut regulators
are wrapping up a months-long investigation into statewide power outages following Isaias.
The state Public Utilities Regulatory Authority received hundreds of complaints from customers and local and state officials about the storm, which at its peak left up to 800,000 customers in the dark, some for nine days or more.
PURA was told of roads blocked by downed wires for days — leaving vulnerable residents unreachable by emergency vehicles — the loss of tens of thousands of dollars in food and medicine and an inability to report outages or learn when power would be restored.
South Windsor readied plans to dump raw sewage into the Connecticut River because its wastewater treatment plant was left without power for a week. Town officials said they received help only after telling Eversource that Gov. Ned Lamont was coming to town.
PURA is scheduled to issue a draft decision March 19, followed by possible deliberations in May over violations. Eversource and United Illuminating face fines, a possible restructuring of how they operate and new performance standards.
The Aug. 4, 2020 storm was reminiscent of similar storms in 2011 and 2012 — a triple hit that prompted reforms and punitive action against the utilities.
“PURA should find that Eversource was imprudent in its storm preparation and response — most notably for its failure to protect public safety and communicate effectively,” said Attorney General William Tong.
Much of Texas earlier this month lost power for up to 10 days after a massive snow storm blew through the state, freezing electrical systems that had not been weatherized to withstand cold temperatures. The process of determining what happened and why — and who is to blame — is just beginning in the Lone Star State.
Connecticut’s utilities acknowledge communication with town officials and residents could have been better during Isaias and web pages designed to inform the public and collect outage reports did not work as intended.
But, for the most part, they praised their restoration efforts.
“Our response was faster than any other historic storm, despite the unique challenges that we encountered,” said Mitch Gross, an Eversource spokesman.
“We recognize that a multi-day power outage is challenging for customers regardless of the intensity of our efforts to mobilize resources and restore power as quickly as possible. We continue to work with PURA, other state agencies and elected officials to evaluate opportunities to develop our storm response capabilities.”
United Illuminating, an Avangrid subsidary, offered a similar assessment.
“UI’s overall execution in Tropical Storm Isaias was effective, efficient, and fully consistent with the (Emergency Response Plan),” said Anthony Marone, UI’s president.
“While no event is ever perfect, the UI team worked well to complete all Make Safe work, address municipal priorities, and restore customers as quickly as possible following a most devastating event.”
Eversource provides electricity to 149 towns and 1.2 million customers. UI serves just under 340,000 customers clustered in the New Haven and Bridgeport region.
‘Unfathomable’
Testimony submitted to PURA by residents and state and town officials paints a vastly different picture of UI and Eversource’s performance during Isaias.
“There were trees down and some property damage but nothing warranting 7-8 days to restore power,” Lyn Chatham of Newtown wrote to PURA. “Getting the job done and serving our community should be Eversource’s priority. It was NOT.”
Ridgefield told PURA that downed lines meant 200 of the town’s roads were not cleared for a week. A patient at a Newtown health care center had to be evacuated by an all-terrain vehicle because downed lines blocked the road.
Bethel’s police station was left without power for six days.
“Unless there is a financial penalty for failure to plan and conduct business for the benefit of the people it services, Eversource will continue to cut costs in order to pass profits back to shareholders and its top executives,” said Matthew Knickbocker, Bethel’s first selectman.
Maria Brown of Fairfield said she couldn’t contact UI.
“The way UI handled the recent power outage in Fairfield was terrible,” Brown said. “It was impossible to get through to UI. There were no communication to give customers an estimated time for restoration. For some, it took a week-plus to get power back.”
Kaitlyn Shanley of Milford, a UI supplied city, added in testimony, “We are on day 13 from the storm with out answer of when we will get our wires restored. Please help!”
Lorraine Russo, a Wethersfield resident who is confined to an electric wheelchair, said she had difficulty charging the device.
“For several nights, I had to sleep in a darkened, sub basement parking garage, alone, in my wheelchair for approximately 6-8 hours to charge my wheelchair,” Russo told PURA. “This was the only plug that had power (from an onsite generator).”
Russo said if the battery loses all power, it has to be replaced at a cost of $1,000 and shipped from China.
In Canaan, a small town nestled in the Northwestern Hills, First Selectman Henry Todd was more than frustrated with Eversource and Comcast.
“I do not believe the responses of either company were anywhere near adequate,” he told PURA. “They had at least a week before the storm hit to prepare. Why there was no plan, no response to phone calls, is unfathomable.”
PURA was told that some out-of-state crews lacked maps showing where circuits and other infrastructure were located and had to wait for Eversource or UI crews, and that outside crews were being housed two hours from work sites.
Aimee Harrison, of Stamford, urged PURA to change the rules for major storms.
“Please do something to change the performance of this, our sole source for power, and the pricing which stands to force people to curtail the purchase of medicines, light, air conditioning …,” Harrison said.
New Fairfield First Selectman Patricia Del Monaco told PURA Eversource left a quadriplegic, cancer survivor without power and in need of help.
“Throughout my conversations with Eversource, I was told that disabled customers aren’t entitled to ‘critical status’ and must make their own arrangements,” Del Monaco said.
“This incident illustrated a total lack of empathy by Eversource, and a life-threatening incident caused by Eversource’s negligence.”
Cromwell First Selectman Gordon Ridgway said his town was “pretty much” on its own for the first 96 hours of Isaias.
“Only the power company can ultimately make the town safe,” he said. “Not knowing when or who was coming made it hard to plan relief. I asked early on for just one line truck, which I thought was the plan: one Make Safe crew per town.”
Ridgway added, “I wonder if shutting down the service centers and downsizing line crews and relying on out of state crews who don’t know the local circuits is wise.”
‘Successfully met requirements’
Following Isaias, the state Legislature gave consumers a new credit on their electric bill for power outages and $250 in reimbursements for lost food and medicine if an outage lasts 96 hours or more.
PURA was directed to create a performance-based system for utilities to hold them accountable and to apply those standards during future rate increase requests.
At the time, Eversource noted that “this new approach will hold us accountable if we fall short in meeting certain standards, and will acknowledge when we exceed the standards, which we believe will result in better service for our customers.”
Eversource was more defiant in testimony submitted to PURA as part of the ongoing investigation, at times disputing town officials over whether a specific road was cleared or when power was restored.
The company pointed out the Bethel police station had a generator and the town was late reporting the outage.
“We agree that there are commonalities among the complaints voiced in those comments and that some of the common complaints are valid,” Eversource told PURA.
“With particular focus on communications, the company can always do better. That said, for many of the complaints that are voiced in the comment letters, there are reasons and explanations as to the underlying circumstances.”
Eversource noted the “expectation that a Make Safe crew would be deployed ahead of the storm or immediately following the storm is not reasonable for a widespread event like Isaias.”
A Make Safe crew is responsible for ensuring downed wires are safe so other crews can clear roads and restore power. The Make Safe program was mandated by PURA following outrage over slow power restoration during the 2011 and 2012 storms.
In response to pages of complaints from the state Office of Consumer Counsel, UI directly disputed allegations and said it did a good job.
“Overall, the evidence in this docket demonstrates that UI’s actions were consistent with the Performance Standards and the (Emergency Response Plan), that its municipal and customer communications were critical success factors in its storm response, and that UI achieved substantial completion of restoration of its customers within six days — on August 10, 2021 — which was consistent with the ERP timeline for a Level 3 event,” the company said in a February filing with PURA.
“We agree that there are commonalities among the complaints voiced in those comments and that some of the common complaints are valid. With particular focus on communications, the company can always do better. That said, for many of the complaints that are voiced in the comment letters, there are reasons and explanations as to the underlying circumstances.”
Eversource, in testimony submitted to PURA regarding the energy company’s response to Tropical Storm Isaias