Electric companies’ critics sound off Date: 11/15/2011 Nov. 14, 2011
By Chris Maza
Reminder Assistant Editor
GREATER SPRINGFIELD — Some local municipal officials are unhappy with the level of service utility companies offered their towns in the wake of the freak October snowstorm that cut power to hundreds of thousands of residents throughout the Pioneer Valley.
East Longmeadow Board of Selectmen Chair James Driscoll indicated to Reminder Publications that it was his belief that, while National Grid representatives were readily available to speak with town officials, the company failed to follow through on promises.
Driscoll gave an assessment of National Grid’s emergency response with two letter grades — an A for initial response and an F for making power restoration for East Longmeadow a priority.
“When it comes to first response service and serving our need to provide the basics and helping serve folks through helping us get out shelter up and running and such, they get an A,” he said. “They were extremely responsive and Johnny-on-the-spot.
“In terms of making East Longmeadow a priority and getting power back to our residents in a timely manner, it was a colossal failure,” he continued.
Driscoll said he was satisfied with the amount of communication the Board of Selectmen had with National Grid, stating that the town had direct meetings and discussion with the company’s president on several occasions.
He added the Board of Selectmen plan on having a follow-up meeting with the energy supplier within the next month.
However, it was the quality of the communication that troubled Driscoll.
“The communication we received was misinformation,” he said. “They set expectations that they couldn’t deliver on.”
Driscoll elaborated by saying that the biggest area of miscommunication was in the way the restoration work was to be executed.
“Boots on the ground was the biggest problem. When we had people [from National Grid] here, the numbers were off what they said they would be,” he said. “They said they would work in staggered shifts and work overnight and none of that ever happened.”
The fact that this is not the first time East Longmeadow has had complaints regarding National Grid is what troubled Driscoll the most.
“If this was the first time, I would not be this upset. But the fact of the matter is whether it’s a 100-year storm or a flock of sea gulls that passes too quickly, we have service interruptions,” he said. “It’s clear that we are not a priority. We are the last stop on the National Grid train.”
Wilbraham Board of Selectmen Chair Patrick Brady echoed similar sentiments about communication with National Grid, stating that the company “made a mistake in giving officials and residents what was initially an overly opportunistic forecast” on when power would be restored.
National Grid originally projected power would be restored on Nov. 3, but later amended that assessment to Nov. 5.
However, overall, he said he was pleased with the level of service the town received.
“We’ve done this before. When the tornado hit on June 1, National Grid did an outstanding job in most people’s opinion. If memory serves, they restored power in three days,” he said. “After the microburst on July 26, we got an overwhelming response and residents were ready to throw a parade for National Grid workers.
“What most people have a hard time getting their head around is that this was a much bigger event. The tornado affected 10 miles of road and utility lines in town and the Nor’easter affected 120 miles. I think National Grid, given the circumstances, did a better job with this storm than they did with the tornado and microburst, which were highly localized events,” he concluded.
Brady said the process of restoring power was slow to commence because before any work could be done, the town needed to clear all tree debris, then Verizon had to repair any damaged poles. After the power was restored, Verizon and Charter Communications could begin restoring service. A few hundred homes were still without Charter service as of press time.
He added that the town has initiated a special after-action meeting in order to “evaluate how we did internally and how the utility companies responded to the town’s needs.
In Longmeadow, Select Board Chair Mark Gold expressed frustrations with Western Massachusetts Electric Company (WMECo) and their inability to get enough boots on the ground to restore power in a timely manner.
Approximately 94 percent of the population was still without power on Nov. 2, nearly five days after the lights initially went out.
“The folks that were there working were phenomenal, but there were just not enough,” Gold said. “By day seven we had all the resources that if we had on day one, we would have been able to avoid a lot of the problems we had.
Gold also reported that a few hundred Comcast customers were still without phone, internet and cable service, highlighting a problem with their emergency response and ability to communicate with the public.
“WMECo and Verizon set up separate emergency lines to assist people dealing with storm-related outages,” Gold said. “If you had a question for Comcast, you had to call their regular 1-800 number.”
In a similar vein, Gold said the town government’s communication with residents was also lacking in some areas, partially due to some residents’ choice of phone service.
Longmeadow uses a reverse-911 emergency information system called ConnectCTY, which informs residents who register for it of important updates, including shelter hours and locations, power restoration projections and other information.
Gold said most residents with Verizon phone service were able to receive the information. Comcast phone service, however, is delivered through a modem, which is powered by electricity. Even if Comcast’s service is not interrupted, customers without power cannot receive calls.
“I’m not sure if it’s a failing of the company or the town, but we need to do a better job getting information out to everyone,” he said. “People who got the messages were appreciative, but we have to do a better job of getting the messages to more people more quickly.”
Gold suggested that those with phone service through the cable provider also register their cell phones for ConnectCTY updates.
Hampden Board of Selectmen Chair Richard Green did not respond to requests for comment as of press time.
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