NEW BRITAIN, Conn. — Connecticut’s Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) issued a ruling Wednesday critical of the response by Eversource Energy and The United Illuminating in preparing for and responding to Tropical Storm Isaias in 2020.
The agency also said their failure to respond appropriately "created a significant risk to public safety."
PURA's ruling said each did not meet certain acceptable performance standards when it came to their actions before and after the storm.
The agency also ordered Eversource and UI to reduce their rates "to reflect a downward adjustment of 0.90% and 0.15%, respectively, in their allowed rate of return on equity (ROE). This is meant to align the [companies’] management performance in future storm response efforts with their financial performance."
PURA says that cut to Eversource will result in an estimated 25-million-dollar loss in revenue.
In response to the ruling, a spokesperson for Eversource told FOX61 in a statement that the company stands by its response to the storm and that its employees "showed skill and dedication" while restoring power to customers as quickly as possible."
"There are many areas for improvement that we are already addressing and we continue to work in good faith with our communities, customers and regulators to improve our performance," Mitch Gross said. "Today’s decision deserves careful consideration and review and we are committed to moving forward in the best interest of our customers."
Ed Crowder, spokesperson for United Illuminating, said in a statement, "We have PURA’s final decision and are still reviewing it in detail. However, we are disappointed that the ruling does not fully reflect the facts we presented during the proceeding, and that it imposes a penalty despite PURA’s finding that UI “generally met the standards of acceptable performance and conducted itself prudently and efficiently. We are mindful of the deficiencies cited by PURA, and are well aware of the difficulties that extended outages cause for our customers. However, we believe the facts clearly support that UI faithfully followed its Emergency Response Plan, and met the overall targets therein. As we consider our next steps, we will continue to use what we learned during Isaias, and from PURA’s investigation, to serve our valued customers, and to improve our readiness for and response to future extreme weather events."
Governor Ned Lamont said in a statement, "PURA announced today what we have known since Tropical Storm Isaias hit our state last summer – Eversource and UI were not adequately prepared to serve their ratepayers to keep the lights and air conditioning on during a significant storm. Accountability is critical for all ratepayers across our state and that is what is happening now. Additionally, I am proud of the bipartisan bill that I signed into law following the storm to provide additional support to ratepayers and advance our commitment to a more resilient, reliable, and performance-based electricity system.”
U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) said, “PURA got it right. Eversource adjectively failed its customers in preparing for a catastrophic storm and negligently responding to the damage. Cutting the company’s profit is a good first start but PURA must exact severe monetary punishment as a spur for better Eversource performance. Eversource must prepare for the worst and hope for the best ahead of a pending storm.”
Attorney General William Tong praised PURA's for its decision.
"Eversource failed and must regain our trust. Their failed response to Isaias put lives in danger, and left families in the dark and disconnected during a deadly pandemic," he said in a statement. "PURA’s strong decision correctly concludes that Eversource was ill-prepared and poorly managed throughout the storm crisis. PURA has rightly opened the door to strong penalties and corrective action, and we will continue to advocate for full accountability at every step of this process."
Meanwhile, State Representative David Arconti, who is the House Chair of the Energy and Technology Committee, said he is "pleased" with the investigation result.
"Their findings and final decision to hold utility companies accountable are a validation of what customers and elected officials have been saying all along – EDC’s failed to inform customers, to allocate the necessary emergency resources and to protect public safety," he said. "We all suffered the consequences of their poor storm response and deserve better."
The AARP said in a statement, “Moving forward with today’s PURA decision and recently passed ‘the take back our grid act’ legislation, AARP hopes our utilities will only be rewarded for their performance and not for simply being our utilities. Ratepayers, especially older and low-income residents, who are struggling to pay their utility bills along with other household expenses like food and medicine, expect and deserve nothing less.”
The final decision in Docket No. 20-08-03 came at the end of an eight-month investigation requested by Gov. Ned Lamont’s call after the August 4, 2020 storm.
The storm left over 1 million residents and businesses without power for an extended period at the same time as a global pandemic and a summer heatwave.
"The investigation considered more than 500 written comments from the public, including 48 sets of comments from public officials, all of which expressed universal frustration with the EDCs’ response to Tropical Storm Isaias," PURA said in a press release. "The overwhelming majority of these comments cited monetary losses incurred from refrigerated items spoiling and other costs associated with buying fuel to back-up generators."
The state regulators also found that residents were unable to contact Eversource, and to a lesser extent, UI, to report outages, downed wires and other safety issues in the wake of the storm.
"Eversource exhibited multiple deficiencies, failing to satisfy established performance standards for managing its municipal liaison program, executing its Make Safe responsibilities, communicating critical information to its customers, and failing to meet its obligation to secure adequate resources in a timely manner to protect the public safety and to provide for the overall public interest," PURA said. "The myriad failures were particularly poignant in the first 48 hours following the tropical storm when their inactions or deficiencies created a significant risk to public safety."
The investigation concluded that UI’s performance was underwhelming in certain areas, but was still markedly better than that of Eversource.
While UI secured and deployed adequate line crews for the event, in communities such as Bridgeport, the company failed to meet all of its Make Safe obligations. The investigation also found that UI failed to meet its public safety obligations in responding to the highest priority calls.
"Ultimately, neither electric utility fully met PURA’s or their respective customers’ reasonable expectations for managing a major storm event."
The next step, according to PURA, will include numerous changes to the companies’ emergency response plans to ensure that both the utilities and customers are better positioned during future storms.
PURA will consider and enforce any civil penalties and further remedial or enforcement orders. In addition, PURA will require comprehensive management audits to be performed on Eversource and UI by an independent, third-party firm, to be starting this summer.
Further, PURA will also require Eversource and UI to modify their rates in a pending or future rate proceeding to reflect a downward adjustment of 0.90% and 0.15%, respectively, in their allowed rate of return on equity (ROE). This is meant to align the EDCs’ management performance in future storm response efforts with their financial performance.
“Today’s decision represents the culmination of our months-long, comprehensive investigation, assisted tremendously by the first-hand experiences of customers and municipal leaders," Chairman Marissa P. Gillett said. "Make no mistake – the decision is a commentary on the deliberate decision by Eversource leaders to manage the company as a corporation, rather than as a utility with a statutory public service obligation."
Gillett continued: "The decision is not a reflection on the commendable efforts of the line workers, field crews, damage assessors and others, who came from near and far to assist Connecticut in our time of need. Now, we must all turn with renewed focus to next steps. I am not satisfied by the status quo of the utilities treating PURA simply as a body that they report information to – we are their regulator, and continuing to hold them to account will remain my mission for the duration of my service in this position.”
HERE ARE MORE WAYS TO GET FOX61 NEWS
Download the FOX61 News APP
iTunes: Click here to download
Google Play: Click here to download
Stream Live on ROKU: Add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching FOX61.