Posted by Dennis Herrick on May 28, 2009 at 13:39:26:
First is was their automatic meter reading system.
Then came their wind mill demonstrations along the NH seacoast.
Followed by the purchase of the Northern Utilities and Granite State gas distribution networks.
Right now they're focussed on completing the sale of 2,000,000 new shares at $20 each to help pay for it all.
And they're considering putting in an outage management system. Something they admitted wouldn't have helped during the ice storm in testimony at the Mass DPU hearings.
When are they going to FOCUS on tree trimming? I'm going to be taking pictures in Plaistow soon.
Not as bad as Lunenburg, Ma. But, boy will you be surprised.
If New England gets hit by a monster hurricane this Summer or Fall it's going to be deja vu.
Wires, poles, trees and limbs are going to come down and all the crews in New England, New York
and Eastern Canada will be all tied up with their own repairs.
Unitil admitted in the Mass DPU hearings that it is still unprepared.
Hey Mass DPU and NH PUC, why don't you ignore state law and do something unprecedented. Fulfill your responsibilities to consumers and make Unitil do it's job.
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Demanding assurances for the future from Unitil
Fitchburg Sentinel & Enterprise
Posted: 05/28/2009 06:32:28 AM EDT
During the night of Dec. 11, 2008, a terrible ice storm struck New England. More than a million people lost power in the initial aftermath of the storm.
While all six towns in the 37th Middlesex District had extensive damage, my own town of Lunenburg, as well as the towns of Ashby, Townsend and the city of Fitchburg were some of the most heavily impacted municipalities in the state.
Unitil, the electricity provider for these four municipalities, proved to be woefully unprepared.
While other public utilities were enacting their storm-response plans, conducting damage assessments and using mutual-aid agreements to deploy large numbers of crews, Unitil was unsure where to begin.
Unitil had an emergency-action plan, but they had never tested the plan in drills or during smaller storms.
In the months since this storm, I have listened to hours of testimony, testified in two hearings, met with the Attorney General's office and read expert testimony collected through an investigation.
I requested, and was granted, a seat on the Committee on Telecommunications, Public Utilities and Energy to address the long-term issues stemming from this storm.
My basic concern remains the same: There is insufficient protection for consumers under current law.
These legal restrictions will most likely lead the Department of Public Utilities to fine Unitil and place them on a probationary period, requiring them to provide an additional level of
reporting.
While this is a start, probation and fines do not adequately protect consumers in the case of future power outages.
As other companies have shown, emergency restoration plans are effective because they give the company and the communities a blueprint of what to do and expect in an emergency.
The DPU will expect Unitil to file a plan with them as they have in the past, but we have seen that having a plan on file does not mean that it will be successfully deployed. We need the DPU to demand real accountability. We need to be able to reassure the public that they will be protected by the agency that oversees this company, but I fear they cannot or will not provide this assurance.
My only recourse is to change the law to provide this protection to my constituents, press the AG to further investigate, and hold the DPU accountable any way I can.
I am working with the rest of the Legislature to provide better utility consumer protections such as the ability for the state to take over management in an emergency and levy more significant fines that will dramatically impact utility companies' profit margins.
It is also important to allow municipalities more power over their own utility management by providing an easier path for the creation of municipal power departments.
It is not clear to me that the result of the DPU and legislative actions can fully prevent a recurrence of a situation like we had this winter, but we must move forward and take what steps we can, working toward a more predictable future.
Rep. Jennifer Benson represents the 37th Middlesex District, which includes Precincts 3, 4 and 5 in Acton, Boxboro, Harvard, Precinct 1 in Lancaster, Lunenburg and Shirley.