CL&P still pushing for Sunday restoration goal

Eve Siegel of Ridgefield, brought her MAC desktop computer to the Ridgefield Recreation Center shelter so that she could complete a project for work that was on deadline. Siegel, like many area residents, lost power Saturday in the snowstorm. Photo taken Monday, Oct. 31, 2011. less Eve Siegel of Ridgefield, brought her MAC desktop computer to the Ridgefield Recreation Center shelter so that she could complete a project for work that was on deadline. Siegel, like many area residents, lost ... more Photo: Carol Kaliff Photo: Carol Kaliff Image 1 of / 77 Caption Close CL&P still pushing for Sunday restoration goal 1 / 77 Back to Gallery

HARTFORD -- More than 300,000 Connecticut Light and Power customers remained without power Friday morning, entering their seventh day in the dark since the freak October nor'easter tore across the state, bringing unprecedented snowfall and leaving behind widespread tree damage.

CL&P Chief Operating Officer Jeffrey Butler said the utility company is still on pace to meet its goal of restoring 99 percent of its customers by Sunday at midnight. He said there will be 100,000 more restorations made by Saturday morning. At its peak, the storm left more than 831,000 customers in the dark.

Progress has been made in the hardest hit areas of Southwestern Connecticut, but there is still much more work to be done.

Seymour, one of the hardest hit towns, has only 20 percent of its customers without power Friday, and school is back in session. Two days ago, 100 percent of the town was in the dark. But in nearby Oxford, the town has been stuck at 40 percent since Wednesday afternoon, and school remains closed as more than 2,000 people are without power.

Monroe also has more than 2,000 CL&P customers without power, and schools remained closed Friday.

In the Greater Danbury area, more than 50 percent of CL&P customers did not have electricity in New Fairfield, Newtown, Redding, Bridgewater and Roxbury as of Friday morning. Sherman and Washington dipped under 50 percent for the first time Friday morning. Ridgefield still had 46 percent of its customers without power, while Danbury had 18 percent in the dark, or more than 6,000 customers.

"Once again, we understand the significant impact the storm has brought on our customers," Butler said during a news conference Friday morning at the State Armory, repeating a mantra he has used since Monday. "We continue to do everything possible to bring power back to our customers as quickly as possible."

Pressed by reporters, Butler said he doesn't have power and his generator has broken down.

"I live out in the Farmington Valley, I've been out around that area, there is extensive damage in the state," Butler said. "Like I've said many times, we're in the business to serve our customers and having almost 80 percent of your customers without power, it does take a toll. To have that amount out, it's something I take personally."

But, he said, "I don't want to talk about anything at this point other than focus on getting our customers restored to power. That's my job, that's my responsibility and I own that."

Butler said there are more than 5,000 employees and contractors working across the state, including 1,749 tree and line crews, made up of 1,019 line crews and 630 tree crews. The National Guard was also brought shifted to help clear roads where wires are down, moving away from their previous mission of distributing water and food at shelters. According to Butler, CL&P continues to focus on working with municipalities to clear roads to allow emergency vehicles to pass safely, and to restore critical customers.

"This isn't a time for blame," said Butler, after he was asked whether the utility or the municipality should be blamed after fire crews couldn't quickly get to a house fire in West Hartford that killed an elderly woman earlier in the week. "We continue to focus to work with municipalities to get all roads cleared."

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said he and the state's congressional delegation are waiting for President Barack Obama to issue a federal disaster declaration that would allow towns to be reimbursed for recovery work from the crippling nor'easter.

Malloy said Friday morning that Obama had approved an amendment to their initial application for federal aid to include debris removal and emergency protective measures, including overtime, equipment and fuel. He said he is waiting for the receipt of the document from the administration and will finalize the details with municipalities Friday.

"I was a little unhappy yesterday and let it be known, with respect to what I thought was some foot dragging on FEMA's part, with respect to this declaration," Malloy said. "It came in overnight, I think a little after midnight, and we're waiting for the details."

Malloy said he will also apply for a major disaster declaration, which takes time, and would include potential aid for individuals and businesses.

An 11 a.m. news conference has been scheduled by the Federal Emergency Management Administration and the state's Congressional delegation to address the federal aid issue.

At a Thursday evening briefing in the State Armory, Malloy said it is important for federal aid to flow, so towns and cities can hire contractors. "I had anticipated that all the paperwork necessary would have been executed in Washington before I came out to speak with you," he said.

He said he wasn't sure why there has been a holdup in the declaration, but smaller towns are concerned about entering contracts without the declaration's assurance that taxpayer money spent on cleanup could be recovered.

"I think they would like numbers from municipalities," he said. "I've tried to explain that throughout this crisis I have had as many as 70 towns halls that haven't been open for regular service. I think there's a need that they have or a misunderstanding of the circumstances in which Connecticut finds itself."

Attorney General George Jepsen stepped into the state's blackout controversy on Thursday, asking utility regulators to investigate CL&P's preparedness and response to last Saturday's storm, which left more than 831,000 of its customers in the dark.

The attorney general's request comes on the heels of a separate, active investigation which began last month in review of the reaction by CL&P and the United Illuminating Co. to the August 27-28 tropical storm.

"I have received numerous complaints from affected citizens, many of whom are still waiting for their power to be restored," Jepsen said in a statement. "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."

Jepsen asked the state's Public Utility Regulatory Authority to probe CL&P's storm preparations; its contracting and payment protocols for out-of-state work crews; and the results of the response.

Butler said Friday morning that CL&P will wait to address the issue of an investigation until after all power is restored. "Our focus to our customers is restoration," he said.

He warned that as many as five of the state's eight storm-related deaths occurred from carbon monoxide poisoning and beseeched residents to keep generators and gas and charcoal cookers outside their homes.

Malloy said that CL&P was guilty of miscommunicating with their customers and local officials.

"I think there have been things that they said that they thought were true; that a certain number of trucks were making trucks were making contact with municipal officials when that was not the case," Malloy said. "I don't think that that was an intentional issue. Nonetheless that kind of communication breakdown is going to have to be addressed in the future."

Malloy said he's eagerly awaiting the planned restoration of service for nearly all CL&P customers by midnight Sunday.

"I wouldn't want to be in their shoes if they fail to deliver," Malloy said.

Malloy left the media center at the state's emergency center, leaving the podium to Butler, president and chief operating officer of CL&P, who said the restoration is still on track to restore nearly all customers by midnight Sunday.

"The thing I'm sorry about is that so many customers here in Connecticut have been out of power for so long, especially when you think about the weather conditions, the forecast that we've heard that it's going to be colder," Butler said.

"I think the commitment we made to the governor on this is something that we take ownership of," Butler said. "I don't want customers sitting in the dark for a few more days."

Butler said the outages are "not an infrastructure issue, this is a tree issue and we have to deal with it."

In response to a reporter's question, Butler confirmed that after Tropical Storm Irene a consultant was contracted to perform an assessment of temporary repairs made to CL&P's utility poles.

"The temporary repairs were safe, they were reliable," Butler said.

At his evening news conference, Malloy said that the number of people either killed or affected by carbon monoxide poisoning is rising. He said there have been four confirmed deaths and 276 others who have been treated for carbon monoxide poisoning. He urged residents not to bring grills, charcoal or improperly vented heating units into their homes.

Malloy also said more National Guard troops will be helping communities and CL&P with storm cleanup needed for power restoration and to open roads.

The governor also asked that bank late fees be waived because people have having difficulty following the nor'easter.

"We will continue to look to bring in additional crews, and continue to work with the state and municipalities to make safe, clear roads and in some areas restore the business district, as well as to continue to address the critical customer needs."

Butler said Thursday the storm will cost $100 million to cleanup, on top of a $100 million bill the utility has from Tropical Storm Irene.

Parent company Northeast Utilities told investor analysts in September that ratepayers, not investors, will pay for the Irene-related cleanup. It's standard in the industry for ratepayers to pay operating costs such as electrical restoration.

United Illuminating restored 99 percent of its customers Wednesday, completing it's storm relief effort. UI, which has a smaller region to cover than CL&P and didn't take the brunt of the storm, has sent crews to work with CL&P.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.