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08/14/2020 12:00 AMIn part of her Aug. 13 newsletter to constituents, State Senator Christine Cohen (D, District 12) provides an update on holding Eversource Energy accountable for its response during outages caused by Storm Isaias; seeks input for proposed 'Take Back the Grid Act' and reminds residents that testimony is being accepted now for the Aug. 24 PURA hearing on recent rate hikes.
Dear Neighbors:
It has been nine days since Tropical Storm Isaias hit Connecticut, disrupting electricity for more than 800,000 households, including thousands in the 12th Senate District. I was in contact with municipal, chief elected officials and our Eversource liaisons in the aftermath of the storm. Additionally, I have heard from so many of you - some with medical issues that require power, some with concern for elderly neighbors with no communication source or assistance navigating homes in the dark, some completely trapped by fallen wires and trees, some losing thousands and thousands of dollars as a small business, and some unable to get through main arteries of the towns because days later they had yet to be cleared.
Here's what we know:
Despite weather models, Eversource misclassified this storm as a lower-level event. United Illuminating did not make that same mistake.
Crews were not staged in our area, ready to work as soon as the storm passed. They did not work the evening of the storm in the 12th Senate District (I cannot speak for the rest of the state).
Level 3 events would require 750-1,250 crews across the state. At a command call on Friday, I learned that there were 1,000 crews assigned and that was a ramp-up that finally occurred three days post-storm. Initial response was incredibly low because Eversource doesn't have the numbers needed on hand and didn't apparently find it necessary to have them at the ready immediately following Isaias.
Make Safe crews were not sent to most of the district for two days post-storm (these are the crews that clear live wires so that towns can remove trees and access homes for emergencies).
There is no method of coordination between linemen, Eversource liaisons and town emergency operations to know when an area is cleared, leaving the municipalities spending countless hours driving around to check on areas they've tried to prioritize with the utility company. Oftentimes, the liaison, and as a result the town, will believe an area to be cleared only to find out that it was not. Again, inter- and intra-company communications are inadequate given the magnitude of this organization.
Customer service operations were not functioning the day of or after the storm making it impossible to report outages and gain information.
Other utility companies, such as Con Edison in New York, have provided a claims process for customers to be reimbursed for food losses yet Eversource has indicated that they will not be held responsible for this natural disaster, putting profits before people.
As we make our way out of the repercussions of Isaias, we need to hold Eversource accountable for this tremendous systemic failure and have in place solutions so that we do not experience long-term outages of this magnitude again. All of this on the heels of a substantial rate increase is preposterous. These are the rate increases justified by improved customer service, lower response times and greater emergency preparedness. It seems clear now that the revenue from those increases was not meaningfully invested in programs to solve any of those issues. Instead, executives at Eversource have taken home tens of millions of dollars in salary, stock options, and pension benefits.
Upcoming Eversource Public Hearing
The legislature's Energy & Technology Committee and the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) have stated that they they will each hold hearings digging into Eversource's preparation and response to the storm. I intend to support these efforts and would like to hear your thoughts on how we can improve our electric system in Connecticut and hold Eversource accountable for their abysmal performance. Together with my colleagues on Energy & Technology, we will be introducing the "Take Back the Grid Act" and your input is invaluable in getting this right.
Before that, PURA will hold a previously-scheduled public hearing via Zoom concerning Eversource's recent electric rate hikes. That hearing will take place on Monday, August 24th at 10 a.m. To quote from the PURA hearing notice, "...Eversource customers recently received higher than anticipated electric bills... The intention of the Authority's reexamination of the administrative adjustments is to ensure that Eversource is not over-collecting revenues in the short term at the expense of ratepayers during this period of financial hardship."
To submit testimony, please email your comments to pura.information@ct.gov, mentioning Docket Number 20-01-01 in the subject line, or mail them to the following mailing address:
Public Utilities Regulatory Authority
10 Franklin Square
New Britain, Connecticut 06051
To attend or participate in the Zoom hearing, please register by clicking this link and completing the application: https://ctdeep.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYqcO2urTosGtGf4iMYOF9fUA1xdzNgkD_6,
Meeting ID# 927 7463 1605.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with more information about how to join the meeting.