May 6, 2021
171
HARTFORD (AP) Connecticut regulators on Thursday proposed a $30 million fine for Eversource and a $2.1 million fine for United Illuminating for what officials called the utilities’ failures in their preparation and response to Tropical Storm Isaias, which left hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses in the state without power last August.
The state Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, or PURA, issued violation notices to the two companies, a week after releasing final reports on its investigation of the utilities’ storm responses.
Eversource, the state’s largest electricity distributor with nearly 1.3 million customers in the state, and United Illuminating, with 340,000 electricity customers in southwestern Connecticut, have 20 days to request a hearing to contest the proposed fines.
PURA officials said they could not comment on the proposed fines until they are finalized.
The fines would be in addition to profit reductions PURA ordered for Eversource and United Illuminating as a result of the Isaias investigation. Eversource stands to lose about $25 million a year and United Illuminating would lose about $1.3 million a year in their returns on equity, PURA said.
Isaias knocked down scores of trees and utility wires, causing more than 740,000 outages at its peak and a total of more than 1.3 million outages for Eversource and United Illuminating customers. Many customers and local officials expressed anger and frustration at the companies’ power restoration efforts, which took more than a week in some places.
Editorial: Power failures waiting for legislative response
Hearst Connecticut Media Editorial Board
May 5, 2021
FacebookTwitterEmail
Eversource Energy workers demonstrate the steps involved in power restoration at the company’s training site in Berlin last year.Brian A. Pounds / Hearst Connecticut Media
When the power goes out, especially for an extended period, there’s no greater crisis. Everyone wants to talk about reforming our utilities and ensuring such a failure never happens again. But as soon as the lights come back on, attention quickly moves elsewhere.
That’s no surprise; people have a limited capacity to focus. But the problems surrounding Tropical Storm Isaias last year were so severe with power out for days in the heat of summer in the middle of a pandemic that attention has lingered, and some in a position of power have shown a lasting interest in reform. The state is going to find out how far that zeal will go.
Connecticut Officials Mull Utility Fines Over Storm Response
Connecticut regulators have criticized the state’s two largest electricity distributors and said they are considering fines over what they called the companies’ failures in their preparation and response last August to Tropical Storm Isaias, which left hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses in the dark for days.
Isaias knocked down scores of trees and utility wires, causing more than 740,000 outages at its peak and a total of more than 1.3 million outages to Eversource and United Illuminating customers. Many customers and local officials expressed anger and frustration at the companies’ power restoration efforts, which took more than a week in some places.