[PuttingDownRoots35]

We are most likely making the move to the West Hartford/Farmington area this summer. However, in light of the recent storms, I would be lying if I said it didnt make me take as step back. Yes, the news dramatizes and the internet can pull the worst of the worst. I keep hearing of 2 week power outages and the such. We live in Denver where the power lines are buried, and have not lost power once in the 5 years we have been here. With small children, it is a big concern. So, I would appreciate any local advice I can get:

Is a generator a must?
How often/how long have you lost power?
Have you been unable to leave do to snow?
Are there areas not as hard hit but the weather?

Thanks all

[Wilton2ParkAve]

Not exactly black and white. I've lived in CT for 12 years and had zero power outages for the first ten. Then hurricanes Sandy, Irene, snowtober and microbursts struck. I've lost power for at least a week three times. I do have a generator that powers 75% of circuits so the impact has been muted. That said I do feel that generators are a sensible consideration particularly in light of more intense storms as well as infrastructure cyberhacking. Total cost is approximately 2 to 10 thousand depending on setup (standby vs manual) and power generation. Look for at least 7kw.

I've never been "trapped" for more than 12 hours even in situations where we experienced extensive tree loss. I'm also pretty confident that had you experienced storms of similar caliber power losses would have occurred in Denver. many ct cities have buried lines but were still impacted as the high tension transmission lines fell or sustained damage. I don't believe the main transmission lines are buried out by you.

[Cambium]

Originally Posted by PuttingDownRoots35

We are most likely making the move to the West Hartford/Farmington area this summer. However, in light of the recent storms, I would be lying if I said it didnt make me take as step back. Yes, the news dramatizes and the internet can pull the worst of the worst. I keep hearing of 2 week power outages and the such. We live in Denver where the power lines are buried, and have not lost power once in the 5 years we have been here. With small children, it is a big concern. So, I would appreciate any local advice I can get:

Is a generator a must?
How often/how long have you lost power?
Have you been unable to leave do to snow?
Are there areas not as hard hit but the weather?

Thanks all

No, but handy to have
2 days max twice in 10 yrs
? 1 inch or 1 foot?
Thats like asking will the Tornado miss my house if I move down south

CL&P had been doing extensive tree pruning over/near wires. While I ranted about how it was such a waste because an entire tree can come down anyway or branches be carried by wind from across the street, I do believe it helped a little. Home owners can bury their wires but there is no multi million dollar plan for towns to bury theirs.

While CT has been under the Extreme Storm Fire, its not like it happens every week or month or year for that matter.

The 2 week power outages you hear of was the most extreme and it was only because enough backup wasnt available until many days later. now they know to make calls before hand.

Will a snowstorm hit in the fall again with the leaves? Who knows. Will a hurricane hit again? Who knows. Other than that, power doesnt go out in the winter from normal snowfall. Every location has its weather extreme I guess,

But I honestly think any state you go to has the chance of a power outage. Nothing a $700 generator wont solve.

[NewHavensFinest]

The more wooded areas, will get more power outages than I would in a suburban area. They are almost always caused by fallen trees.

for the most part the UI is pretty fast with repairs, even faster in my neighborhood because I live on a main road.

We have a 7500w generator anyways but never use it.

We never lost power for more than a day.

Weve only been snowed in during the recent "nemo" storm and it was only for the weekend. Our plows could not handle the volume of snow we had so it took a while, even payloaders working through the night to remove the snow, there was nowhere to put it so they were filling up open trailer trucks and dumping it in a parking lot.

[Cambium]

This was the most extreme I saw. Dont let it scare you. So much was implemented after this which was from the Fall snowstorm with leaves on trees.

While not every single person lost power, No matter where you lived there was a chance it went out with this storm.

[Wilton2ParkAve]

Wasn't sandy worse cam?

[willow wind]

In West Hartford you will have city water, city sewer and most likely city gas ( if not for heat, then for cooking. ) So all you would have to worry about is heat. Yes, you could put in a generator or a wood stove or just tough it out for a few days. We're much more likely to lose power when the leaves are on the trees than in the dead of winter. You won't need heat with a summer or early autumn storm.

These storms don't happen all the time. Yes, we had a blizzard almost two weeks ago. The last time we had a blizzard this severe was in 1978. Yes, we had back to back hurricanes the past two years, but the last time before that West Hartford would have had any effect was in 1986.

These are occasional occurrences. They never just happen- there is always plenty of warning and plenty of time to make plans and lay in supplies. No, you will not usually be trapped in your home for days on end. Most times when it snows, you'll be out as soon as it stops snowing, or even during a snow. This last blizzard was not typical.

It's only when we have a bad wind storm event that the power will go out and it's impossible to predict who is going to be without power. People were out for a day to a week. Only a very few areas were out for longer than that. With the blizzard, there was very little power disruption and only down on the shore line areas.

West Hartford is inland, so will not taking the brunt of hurricane force winds as will the shoreline. I think West Hartford's annual average snowfall is about 37 inches, while Denver's seems to be about 55".

I really don't think the weather is anything you have to worry too much about, especially as you'll be in a built up area with city utilities. Utility company priority for restoring power is always for the more developed areas first, then the country areas last.

[Cambium]

Originally Posted by Wilton2ParkAve

Wasn't sandy worse cam?

Nope.. very little rain kept it under 600,000 max... I had said under 600,000 days before because I knew there would be little rain involved. Had there been rain, we would have topped the October snowstorm which I believe hit 1 million including UI

Here's Sandy's outage

[Mike 75]

I grew up in CT and remember only one power outage of extended duration (Gloria in 86). That being said, we seem to be in the bullseye as of late (my oldest is definitely scarred from power outages). My advice is get a generator. It's piece of mind and makes life that much easier during a difficult time.

[CTbrooktrout]

I've been in CT for 27 years and really only the last 2 years have we seen widespread major power outages during some bad times to have an outage such as in winter when it's cold. You should expect hit or miss outages anywhere in the country as you should here. Something that can be fixed in a day or two I think is expected anywhere.

Weather wise we seem to be in a trend of "once in a lifetime storms" happening every few months. As with all trends, this will come to an end eventually and we'll be complaining of drought, not enough rain for crops, and no skiing because it's 70 degrees in January.

All in all I'd say the power outages are just as bad as anywhere else or even better because as I said, in my 27 years, only these past 2 have been bad and are the reason you are asking this question.