CT Lawmakers Grill Eversource Execs On Isaias Response, Rate Hike

CONNECTICUT — Top executives from Eversource appeared before the Energy and Technology Committee of the Connecticut General Assembly for an informational forum on Thursday. Both sides had widely differing opinions about the utility's response to the aftermath of Tropical Storm Isaias earlier this month, and the merit of recent fee hikes.

Eversource CEO Jim Judge said he welcomed the inquiry, and apologized for the "stress and anxiety" experienced by his customers in Connecticut. He said his company had taken all reasonable steps to prepare for the storm, had apprised state government officials of estimated times for restoration, and had met those estimates.

By way of explanation, Penni Conner, chief customer officer for the utility, said that the devastation of Isaias was 30 percent more than Superstorm Sandy. It also occurred "during a pandemic, a heat wave and while experiencing higher energy bills."

State Rep. David Arconti Jr., representing the 109th District and chair of the Committee, said that since Sandy, the state has invested hundreds of millions of dollars into utilities, and wondered if the investments were being spent wisely.

Eversource president of regional operations Craig Hallstrom explained that funds had been invested in sensors, smart meters and stronger poles, among other line items.

"But a new pole is no match for a two-ton oak tree that falls on it," Judge said. "I wish I could say this will not occur again."

Judge has "very serious concerns about the tree stock in Connecticut," which he said is suffering from both insect damage and drought, implying these could contribute to future outages.

State Sen. Norman Needleman, of the 33rd District, questioned the utility executives about the out-of-state crews he said were brought in too late.

"I firmly believe we had the right number of resources based upon the forecast," Hallstrom said. When the storm proved more destructive than was predicted, Eversource ramped up its response and ultimately ended up with more than 2,500 "boots on the ground."

Needleman acknowledged the number of boots, but said that his understanding was nobody was directing the boots to go anyplace they might be useful. He suggested Eversource hire more local crews who better know their ways around the towns they were servicing, and criticized the use of contractors over local staff as a "clearly financial" decision that "rings hollow."

Conner admitted the Eversource electronic infrastructure proved it was not up to the task of handling all the inquiries the company received from customers across the outage, despite a recent upgrade. A large part of the problem was that Eversource was now providing more ways for customers to access customer service, including texting, phone apps and through their website. "We have customers who texted us 20-30 times a day," she said.

On the matter of the fare hike, Judge said the average customer bill had gone up $62. Of that, $55 could be attributed to increased usage by the customer, which he tied back to warmer weather and people staying inside due to the pandemic. The remaining seven dollars was the actual rate increase, the CEO said, and four of those paid for the state mandate that Eversource buy power from a Dominion nuclear plant in Waterbury.

At a Public Utilities Regulatory Authority hearing on Monday, both Gov. Ned Lamont and U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., called for the breakup of Eversource. The PURA hearings are schedule to continue in October.