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State Regulators Open The Floor To Public Comment On How Utilities Responded To Isaias

Ryan Caron King
/
Connecticut Public
Workers with Asplundh Construction repair electrical lines along Main Street in Rocky Hill two days after Tropical Storm Isaias uprooted trees and left hundreds of thousands of Connecticut residents without power.

State Attorney General William Tong said Wednesday utilities Eversource and United Illuminating should immediately compensate ratepayers for food and medicine lost during Tropical Storm Isaias.

Tong’s remarks opened three days of scheduled public comment on how utilities prepared for and responded to Tropical Storm Isaias. But on Wednesday, only a handful of people joined the call to share their stories. 

Earlier this month, Gov. Ned Lamont signed a bill requiring utilities to reimburse customers for lost food and medicine after some emergency power outages. 

The bill, which was ushered through a special session of the General Assembly, was hailed as a legislative win after a storm that knocked out power to more than 800,000 customers and left some people without electricity for more than a week. 

But the bill is prospective, which means it doesn’t require those reimbursements to begin until next year.

“That is not likely to apply to Tropical Storm Isaias and the response of the electric distribution companies to that storm,” Tong told members of the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, or PURA.

“We ask PURA to step forward and help the people of this state by directing Eversource and UI to reimburse ratepayers for losses … including spoiled food and lost medicine," Tong said.

PURA opened up an investigation into the utilities’ storm planning and response only two days after Isaias hit Connecticut in early August. The proceedings are scheduled to continue into next year. And right now, it’s not immediately clear how any reimbursement would legally work. 

Still, Tong said customers expect utilities to be held accountable for their storm response.

“We pay them to be ready. We give them a franchise, a monopoly to be ready. And we literally bet our lives on their ability to be ready, to manage risk, and to be prepared for severe weather and even unexpected and unpredictable weather,” Tong said. “We have to find out in this inquiry what was known -- or knowable -- to Eversource and United Illuminating about this storm, and did they appropriately plan for the severity of Tropical Storm Isaias.”

In a written statement, Ed Crowder, a spokesperson for United Illuminated, said he hopes the inquiry does just that. 

“UI is fully participating, and we welcome this objective assessment of our readiness and response,” Crowder said. 

It was a sentiment echoed by Eversource spokesperson Mitch Gross.

“Every major storm poses unique challenges for our customers and provides us with the invaluable opportunity to examine our emergency response processes and procedures,” Gross said in an email. “These public comment sessions are an important part of PURA’s storm review process -- allowing customers and community leaders to express their input and share their experiences.” 

But while state legislative hearings in the immediate aftermath of Isaias drew wide condemnation from the public and lawmakers about how the two major utilities handled the storms, Wednesday’s affair before PURA was much more muted and significantly more brief. 

After a handful of elected officials spoke, only four members of the public offered any comment. 

The whole meeting wrapped up in less than one hour.

Patrick Skahill is a reporter and digital editor at Connecticut Public. Prior to becoming a reporter, he was the founding producer of Connecticut Public Radio's The Colin McEnroe Show, which began in 2009. Patrick's reporting has appeared on NPR's Morning Edition, Here & Now, and All Things Considered. He has also reported for the Marketplace Morning Report. He can be reached at pskahill@ctpublic.org.

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The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

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