Frustration Mounts as Public Officials Begin to Doubt CL&P’s Restoration Estimates

Connecticut Light & Power stepped up restoration efforts Thursday, announcing that it had nearly 1,500 crews working throughout Connecticut, but many state and local lawmakers stepped up their criticism of the utility and whether it could meet it's deadline to have .

“I think people have generally been patient but this is one storm too many and a few days too long at this point,” said State Sen. Joe Markley (R-Southington). “There is certainly going to be some reckoning and we are going to have to really examine how this was handled when it’s over and the lights have come back on.”

Markley said residents aren’t upset with the CL&P crews themselves, who have spent days climbing poles and cutting limbs, but rather are angry with the the management of the response. Legislators have been left with a growing list of with questions in regard to how CL&P has handled preparations and staffing during the response, he said.

Garry Brumback said both Wednesday and Thursday that the biggest disappointment has been the communications, or lack there of, from company administrators.

"We are experiencing a dearth of valid information, and even those we are getting to talk to us from CL&P are not knowledgeable or wrong,” Brumback said during a municipal phone conference with Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and CL&P Prsident and Chief Operating Officer Jeffrey Butler Thursday.

With many towns suffering through their sixth straight day without power, CL&P spokesman Frank Poirot said Thursday afternoon that the utility had approximately 1,495 total crews – 867 line crews and 628 tree crews – working to restore power throughout the state.

CL&P was still trying to bring in more crews to assist with the restoration work, Poirot said, and the majority of the crews were independent contractors, not CL&P employees.

Brumback said there were 13 crews at work Thursday and at least as many would return to the community on Friday in Southington, but more than 6,700 customers were still left without power as of 6:30 p.m. Thursday.

"The are sticking by their goal that 99 percent of the community will be restored by Sunday night and that message was reinforced by Mr Butler (in a phone conversation Thursday)," Brumback said.

CL&P has released a full list of estimated restoration times for all 149 cities and towns in Connecticut it services that indicates that 99 percent of the utility’s customers throughout the state should see power restored by Sunday.

Southington wasn't alone in expressing frustration over the response, with many leaders in surrounding communities saying it was time for the utility giant to step it up.

"CL&P is proceeding at a glacial pace when this should be a sprint,” West Hartford Mayor Scott Slifka said. “The restoration is barely better than yesterday - since yesterday was zero - and anything is an improvement. If they change the deadline it will confirm exactly what we've thought all along.

"We've never had any faith in that number. It's been CL&P's number. If not 99 percent, what is the number? Will it be a percentage that allows us to open the schools, to shut down most of our shelter operations? That's the question, and we need answers ASAP," Slifka said.

According to the outage map on the utility’s Web site, 78 percent of West Hartford customers were still without power as of 5 p.m. Thursday, down from a peak of 100 percent.

On a conference call Thursday with CL&P and state officials, Avon Town Manager Brandon Roberston also questioned the utility’s estimate and effectiveness in restoration efforts thus far. He said that Avon residents are nearing the end of their patience.

Avon was still at 87 percent without power as of 5 p.m. Thursday.

“The response that the town of Avon has received is nothing short of inadequate and disappointing. I have a town that has 85 percent outage, 25 percent of roads inaccessible to emergency vehicles. We have multiple requests to CL&P line crews to get these streets cleared,” Roberston said. “…CL&P’s website anticipates restoration on Sunday night. I’m going to be in a sea of trouble when that deadline comes and goes and most of our town is still in the dark.”

When asked, Poirot said Thursday that CL&P was still anticipating 99 percent restoration by Sunday, and that many more customers should begin to see their power restored in the coming days as the utility imports more crews and shifts a greater emphasis away from emergency responses, like clearing downed or sparking wires, to restoration.

“That’s our goal,” Poirot said of the Sunday deadline.

But not all town officials are prepared to lambast the utility’s response to last weekend’s freak October snowstorm that knocked out power to more than 831,000 CL&P customers just yet.

"Communication with CL&P has been great,” Windsor Town Manager Peter Souza said, noting that Windsor has had a CL&P employee at Town Hall from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. since Monday coordinating restoration efforts with the town and that Windsor had 20 line crews and 10 tree crews working in town Wednesday.

"We've taken the approach that it's a highly unusual event, and we're working together to find solutions," he said.

Windsor was at 92 percent without power Thursday evening.

Manchester Mayor Louis Spadaccini also noted the strong collaboration between Manchester town staff and the CL&P liaison assigned to the town since the storm, which he attributed to Manchester’s steady decline in outages since Saturday.

At peak, Manchester had 96 percent of customers without power, but that number had fallen to 53 percent as of 5 p.m. Thursday. Spadaccini said there were 18 crews working in Manchester to restore power on Thursday, and that he was confident the utility would meet its restoration deadline in Manchester. He said he could not speak for other communities throughout the state, however.

“I think they’ll be time to take a look at CL&P’s reaction when this is all over,” Spadaccini said. “Right now our only focus is in getting power restored. Once this is over, I think the town and the state will be able to look back on what occurred and we’ll be able to have a discussion on what changes could be made.”

Attorney General George Jepsen also joined the growing ranks of CL&P’s critics Thursday, releasing a statement asking utility regulators to investigate CL&P’s preparedness and response to the storm.

“I have received numerous complaints from affected citizens, many of whom are still waiting for their power to be restored,” Jepsen said. “Reliable electric service is a matter of public health and safety, and Connecticut’s citizens deserve to know that the utilities and the State are doing everything possible to provide electric service as soon as possible.”

The current state of emergency and widespread power outages comes just two months after .

It took more than a week for power to be restored to the entire state after that storm, and .