[adamz]

Originally Posted by JViello

However, as I talked about in length in the hurricane thread, CLP is basically controlled ultimately by the government in regards to profitability, what they can do with facilities, rates etc. Everything has to go through the utility commission which is, a government entity and to a lessor extent the legislature.

To see the governor get his hackles up about anything is like getting mad at your wife for not spending money on supplies when you took all the money.

The government has IMO been overly lax in allowing CLP to raise rates while not requiring them to have adequate plans in place for emergencies.

Let's face it- businesses exist to make money. Left to themselves, they will cut corners as much as possible so as to maximize profits. In the normal capitalist environment, customers could vote with their wallets if they felt that a business was providing a substandard value. Because CLP is a monopoly, they aren't subject to that market force.

I would like to see legislation passed to require the annual filing of emergency response plans, to fine CLP if they don't meet power restoration benchmarks, and to prohibit them from passing repair and restoration costs on to the customers.

[JViello]

Originally Posted by kidyankee764

"Um, ahh, um, uh, ba, uh, uhm"

Originally Posted by kidyankee764

"Snowfall could accumulate Saturday from as much as a few inches in southeastern Connecticut to more than a foot in some areas of the Litchfield Hills. Snow could be heavy at times and also mix with sleet and rain in some places. Additionally, winds are expected to be strong, with gusts possibly up to 30 mph. The early snow could cause problems for motorists out on the roads and bring down tree branches with the possibility of power outages."

That's exactly what we got.

Sorry, hans, but it's not rocket science that when 6+" is forecasted for October when leaves are on trees, there will be issues. As mels said, people need to care for themselves and not rely on TV/government to do it for them.

That said, News 8, News 4 NY, Fox 5 NY, News 12 CT and NBC 30 news all warned us about an historic event. I started preparing on Thursday night, and by Friday afternoon, stores/gas stations were packed in Wallingford.

Heck CAMBIUM gave an accurate forecast on it and he's just a hobbyist on the interwebs. lol

Originally Posted by AMSS

We pay some of the highest rates in the country and people are supposed to fork out big bucks for a generator? Just in case the electric company isn't doing it's job? This is a failure of leadership.

Point well taken. Some of our "cost" is our draconian approach to generation plants in this state - again thanks to our government, so we have to import most of our power.

Originally Posted by toddb

I heard him on the radio going home yesterday... I can't believe this guy is a politician! The worst public speaker.

Maybe his dyslexia is going to his mouth.

Originally Posted by adamz

I would like to see legislation passed to require the annual filing of emergency response plans, to fine CLP if they don't meet power restoration benchmarks, and to prohibit them from passing repair and restoration costs on to the customers.

They already do and have too. Again, talk to your government, they set the standards.

One thing I will agree with you on for sure is that the utility is NOT set up for a competitive environment. What they basically did is turn CLP into a facility supplier and you can purchase your electricity from other generation sources and brokers.

The telecom industry was much much easier to deregulate and put up competing networks that have interconnect agreements. To build another power grid is pretty much not going to happen in our life IMO. They have what's called a "natural monopoly".

[adamz]

Originally Posted by JViello

:
They already do and have too. Again, talk to your government, they set the standards.

One thing I will agree with you on for sure is that the utility is NOT set up for a competitive environment. What they basically did is turn CLP into a facility supplier and you can purchase your electricity from other generation sources and brokers.

The telecom industry was much much easier to deregulate and put up competing networks that have interconnect agreements. To build another power grid is pretty much not going to happen in our life IMO. They have what's called a "natural monopoly".

JViello, I guess my post didn't make it clear: it is government I blame, since it's readily apparent that left to their own devices CLP will leave us in the dark and then charge us for the privilege.

[Stratford, Ct. Resident]

Originally Posted by mlassoff

Having just moved out of a CL&P zone and back in to a UI zone, it seems to me that CL&P needs to be better prepared for these "historic" weather events we're having every 90 days or so...

I was driving up to BDL (which by the way is running great today) today and listening to a Hartford talk station. Here are several plausible issues that it seems would be good investments of time and money to modernize the infrastructure:

1) Start planning to place our utilities underground?

@Mark

They just stated on NBC30 news that burying the lines costs $1Million per mile. CL&P reportedly has 17,000 miles of lines.

I believe that adds up to..............

17 BILLION DOLLARS. That doesn't include UI's service area.

[Tetto]

Originally Posted by Stratford, Ct. Resident

@Mark

They just stated on NBC30 news that burying the lines costs $1Million per mile. CL&P reportedly has 17,000 miles of lines.

I believe that adds up to..............

17 BILLION DOLLARS. That doesn't include UI's service area.

Is that all? Just raise the gas tax, and every other tax and do it

[Cambium]

Originally Posted by JViello

Heck CAMBIUM gave an accurate forecast on it and he's just a hobbyist on the interwebs. lol

LOL. Yup. Thanks.

Plus I always say its always better to "hype" up a storm and have everyone prepare then to get caught with your pants down. But just like the deaths with the Tornadoes..10 minutes warning time was enough to take cover...Problem is most people arent in tune with the weather and they get caught. EVERYONE should be on text alerts with TWC or Accuweather. Period.

And if you watch that video I posted you clearly see the meteorologists on air mentioning the power outages..


Meteorologists dispute CLP forecast claims - YouTube

[Stratford, Ct. Resident]

Originally Posted by Tetto

Is that all? Just raise the gas tax, and every other tax and do it

Fast math tells me it would take well over $5K from every single resident in the state to come up with the money.

[MrGompers]

Anyone know if CL&P has a priority list of what to restore first? And is that list available to the public?

I would guess it looks something like this

1. Hospitals
2. Police Stations
3. Firehouses
4. Community Centers/Emergency shelters
5. Schools


I read somewhere that CL&P has a representative for each town. That representative coordinates with a town representative and they decide where power should be restored to first.

From what I observed in Cromwell + Rocky Hill CL&P was restoring power to business areas first. That doesn't quite make sense though - because if the citizens don't have power - why would they go shopping? You can't store $$ of meat in a fridge if you don't have power.

[Arm&Hammer]

Originally Posted by Stratford, Ct. Resident

@Mark

They just stated on NBC30 news that burying the lines costs $1Million per mile. CL&P reportedly has 17,000 miles of lines.

I believe that adds up to..............

17 BILLION DOLLARS. That doesn't include UI's service area.

That is why I mentioned that they should buried the lines in rural areas instead of more populated areas because that is where more trees are at, the more forested areas.

[JViello]

Originally Posted by Stratford, Ct. Resident

@Mark

They just stated on NBC30 news that burying the lines costs $1Million per mile. CL&P reportedly has 17,000 miles of lines.

I believe that adds up to..............

17 BILLION DOLLARS. That doesn't include UI's service area.

NBC is

Originally Posted by Cambium

LOL. Yup. Thanks.

Plus I always say its always better to "hype" up a storm and have everyone prepare then to get caught with your pants down. But just like the deaths with the Tornadoes..10 minutes warning time was enough to take cover...Problem is most people arent in tune with the weather and they get caught. EVERYONE should be on text alerts with TWC or Accuweather. Period.

And if you watch that video I posted you clearly see the meteorologists on air mentioning the power outages..


Meteorologists dispute CLP forecast claims - YouTube

Yea man, you nailed it...and IMO before the networks started saying it.

Originally Posted by MrGompers

Anyone know if CL&P has a priority list of what to restore first? And is that list available to the public?

I would guess it looks something like this

1. Hospitals
2. Police Stations
3. Firehouses
4. Community Centers/Emergency shelters
5. Schools


I read somewhere that CL&P has a representative for each town. That representative coordinates with a town representative and they decide where power should be restored to first.

From what I observed in Cromwell + Rocky Hill CL&P was restoring power to business areas first. That doesn't quite make sense though - because if the citizens don't have power - why would they go shopping? You can't store $$ of meat in a fridge if you don't have power.

They have a protocol that I know of, and it's basically to get certain "centers" up and running first, but not so much as you list because most of those places have backup generation.

They prioritize which repair will restore the most people first. IOW if a repair will restore 10,000 people, vs another 500, they will go to the 10,000 first. That's generally why you see the more rural towns come on line later.

As a side note, my area of town is soooo screwed. LOL The tree guys came this afternoon and didn't get halfway down the street. Another truck showed up and just started pulling wires off houses and coiling them up. You can't fit two cars down just about any of the roads.

The good news is 8 of 11 houses around me have acquired generators and I've hard wired them in for whole house operation. We don't need no stinking CLP.