Free Daily Headlines :

  • COVID-19
  • Vaccine Info
  • Money
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Justice
  • More
    • Environment
    • Economic Development
    • Gaming
    • Investigations
    • Social Services
    • TRANSPORTATION
  • Opinion
    • CT Viewpoints
    • CT Artpoints
DONATE
Reflecting Connecticut’s Reality.
    COVID-19
    Vaccine Info
    Money
    Politics
    Education
    Health
    Justice
    More
    Environment
    Economic Development
    Gaming
    Investigations
    Social Services
    TRANSPORTATION
    Opinion
    CT Viewpoints
    CT Artpoints

LET�S GET SOCIAL

Show your love for great stories and out standing journalism

Senate adopts penalties, standards for blackouts

  • by Keith M. Phaneuf
  • May 5, 2012
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"

The Senate voted unanimously Saturday to adopt and send to the House a bill imposing penalties on Connecticut’s utilities for poor performance, a reaction to extended blackouts after storms last August and October.

The bill backed by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy also would toughen performance standards for electric, gas and telephone utilities, require them to report annually to the state on their emergency response plans and would launch a pilot “micro-grid” program to ensure vital commercial and public services in community centers remain active during wide-scale power outages.

Lawmakers did not mandate the most expensive solution to minimizing power outages: the burying of overhead utility lines. But they did order municipalities and the state Department of Transportation to notify utilities whenever public works projects could facilitate the burying of nearby power lines.

The legislation grew from studies of two storms that paralyzed much of Connecticut during the second half of 2011. Tropical Storm Irene, which hit most of the state Aug. 27-28, left more than 670,000 residences and businesses without power. And an Oct. 29 nor’easter caused more than 800,000 outages.

“The current system is intolerable. We must do better,” said Sen. John Fonfara, D-Hartford, co-chairman of the legislature’s Energy and Technology Committee, who added that the utility response to last year’s storms had a harmful effect “not only on the quality of our lives, but on the economy of our state.”

“We were in a period of complacency. We assumed everything was fine” said Sen. Stephen T. Cassano, D-Manchester, co-chairman of the Planning and Development Committee. “We got whacked and we got whacked big time. … This bill can’t solve everything, but it is a great start.”

“Hopefully none of us have forgotten the fact that so many of our constituents sat for days” without electricity or heat, said Senate Minority Leader John P. McKinney, R-Fairfield.

One of the measure’s critical components, he added, was a mandate that state utility regulators develop standards for electric and gas providers.

State regulators can initiate a review of an electric or gas utility’s performance at any time, though it must do so whenever at least 10 percent of a company’s customer base has been without service for at least 48 hours.

The standards the state’s Public Utility Regulatory Authority will develop must address regular tree-trimming near power lines, minimum utility maintenance staffing levels and contingency agreements that enable companies to expand the repair workforce after major storms.

The legislation also empowers PURA to impose fines up to as much as 2.5 percent of the utility’s annual revenue from electricity or gas distribution.

The state’s largest electric utility, Connecticut Light & Power Co., absorbed a hail of criticism after last year’s storms and particularly following the October nor’easter, as state and municipal leaders, consumers, utility worker unions and others argued it moved far too slowly to restore power.

CL&P needed nine days to restore power to all customers after Irene, and more than 11 days after the October nor’easter. And given that the latter storm dumped between 1 and 2 feet of snow on much of northern and central Connecticut, thousands of households also were left without heat for several days as temperatures hovered close to freezing.

Two studies commissioned by Malloy, including one prepared by a Washington, D.C., crisis management firm led by former Federal Emergency Management Agency Director James Witt, concluded that CL&P wasn’t sufficiently prepared, noting that the utility’s “worst-case scenario” plan offered little guidance for outages beyond 100,000 customers.

“While I hope that the two major storms we endured last year in a little more than six weeks were an aberration, the reality is we need to take every possible precaution to make sure we learn from those two unprecedented events,” Malloy wrote in a statement Saturday. “While we can’t control what Mother Nature throws our way, enacting tougher standards for utility companies and improving communication and training for state and local officials are two actions that will make sure we’re in a better position to respond once a storm is over.”

CL&P commissioned its own study of the storm response, releasing a report in March from Maryland-based Davies Consulting that recommended that the utility expand tree-trimming near power lines and take other steps to elevate its response. But it also disputed Malloy administration reports that the company was unprepared for the storms, concluding that power restoration efforts were “reasonable” compared with industry norms.

A final mandate in the bill directs PURA to develop a pilot program to work with interest communities to develop “micro-grids” to safeguard power to vital public and commercial services.

The measure authorizes the authority to issue up to $5 million in grants and loans to develop fuel cells or other alternative clean energy generation sources. These would maintain electric service to hospitals, police and fire stations, sewage treatment plans and vital commercial services such as gasoline stations in community centers in the event standard electric service is interrupted on a wide scale.

Sign up for CT Mirror's free daily news summary.

Free to Read. Not Free to Produce.

The Connecticut Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. 90% of our revenue comes from people like you. If you value our reporting please consider making a donation. You'll enjoy reading CT Mirror even more knowing you helped make it happen.

YES, I'LL DONATE TODAY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Keith M. Phaneuf

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
Pandemic relief promises CT temporary aid and hope of permanent change
by Mark Pazniokas

A temporary child tax credit is expected to shrink child poverty and fuel demands for permanent solutions to economic inequality.

Vaccine rollouts discriminates against CT residents of color, federal complaint alleges
by Kelan Lyons

The complaint is at least the second since Feb. 22, when officials announced the vaccine would be distributed by age.

Patricia Billie Miller breaks ground taking Senate seat
by Mark Pazniokas

Patricia Billie Miller is the first woman and first person of color elected to the Connecticut Senate from Stamford.

Right to counsel is just as much a racial justice issue as a housing policy issue
by Pearson Caldwell

Despite the state and federal moratoriums on eviction, nearly 3,000 Connecticut families have faced eviction in the past 10 months. Over half of these families were Black or Latinx, even though these groups combined comprise less than a quarter of the overall population. The stop-gap measures pursued by the state are not enough. Connecticut needs a statewide right to counsel for tenants facing eviction to address the burning housing and racial justice crisis across the state.

We need justice, not politics
by Richard J. Colangelo Jr. and 13 State's Attorneys

The administration of justice should not be political. Prosecutors must be guided by the evidence in a case and the applicable law, not by partisan, political considerations. Political pressure should never sway a prosecutor’s decision-making.

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion Right to counsel is just as much a racial justice issue as a housing policy issue
by Pearson Caldwell

Despite the state and federal moratoriums on eviction, nearly 3,000 Connecticut families have faced eviction in the past 10 months. Over half of these families were Black or Latinx, even though these groups combined comprise less than a quarter of the overall population. The stop-gap measures pursued by the state are not enough. Connecticut needs a statewide right to counsel for tenants facing eviction to address the burning housing and racial justice crisis across the state.

Opinion We need justice, not politics
by Richard J. Colangelo Jr. and 13 State's Attorneys

The administration of justice should not be political. Prosecutors must be guided by the evidence in a case and the applicable law, not by partisan, political considerations. Political pressure should never sway a prosecutor’s decision-making.

Opinion Assisted suicide lobby spreads falsehoods to promote systemic ableism
by Stephen Mendelsohn

Proponents of assisted suicide repeatedly spread falsehoods to promote their lethal and ableist agenda.  The February 8 op-ed, “Aid in dying is not assisted suicide” is no exception. Suicide is defined as the act of taking one’s life intentionally.  The person who intentionally ingests a prescribed lethal overdose more closely fits the dictionary definition of suicide than the despondent person who jumps off a bridge.  The desire for suicide is a cry for help, even when redefined as a “medical treatment option.”

Opinion TCI will create a fourth gasoline tax
by Christian A. Herb

The Transportation Climate Initiative, or TCI, calls for a proposed emissions fee on gasoline to help battle climate change. On the surface, supporters say it is a small price to pay to help save the planet; and if you truly believe that this is the case, then you should consider voting for it. Despite the administration’s efforts to go out of their way to not call TCI a tax, the simple truth is that it will only create additional financial hardships on lower- and middle-income families struggling to make ends meet during the pandemic.

Artwork Grand guidance
by Anne:Gogh

In a world of systemic oppression aimed towards those of darker skintones – representation matters. We are more than our equity elusive environments, more than numbers in a prison and much more than victims of societal dispositions. This piece depicts a melanated young man draped in a cape ascending high above multiple forms of oppression. […]

Artwork Shea
by Anthony Valentine

Shea is a story about race and social inequalities that plague America. It is a narrative that prompts the question, “Do you know what it’s like to wake up in new skin?”

Artwork The Declaration of Human Rights
by Andres Chaparro

Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness. Jazz music is the catalyst to all my work, and plays a major influence in each piece of work.”

Artwork ‘A thing of beauty. Destroy it forever’
by Richard DiCarlo | Derby

During times like these it’s often fun to revisit something familiar and approach things with a different slant. I have been taking some Pop culture and Art masterpieces and applying the vintage 1960’s and 70’s classic figures (Fisher Price, little people) to the make an amusing pieces. Here is my homage to Fisher -Price, Yellow […]

Twitter Feed
A Twitter List by CTMirror

Engage

  • Reflections Tickets & Sponsorships
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Newsletter Sign-Up
  • Submit to Viewpoints
  • Submit to ArtPoints
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Commenting Guidelines
  • Legal Notices
  • Contact Us

About

  • About CT Mirror
  • Announcements
  • Board
  • Staff
  • Sponsors and Funders
  • Donors
  • Friends of CT Mirror
  • History
  • Financial
  • Policies
  • Strategic Plan

Opportunity

  • Advertising and Sponsorship
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Use of Photography
  • Work for Us

Go Deeper

  • Steady Habits Podcast
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Five Things

The Connecticut News Project, Inc. 1049 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Phone: 860-218-6380

© Copyright 2021, The Connecticut News Project. All Rights Reserved. Website by Web Publisher PRO