CT Power Outages: Still 90,000 Without Electricity Monday

CONNECTICUT — United Illuminating has nearly all of its customers back online, but Eversource still has more than 88,071 customers to go. UI had about customers still without power as of 7:30 a.m. Monday.

Around 7 percent of Eversource and less than 1 percent of UI customers still don’t have power as of Monday morning. Outages easily eclipsed those of Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and came close to rivaling those of the October snowstorm and Hurricane Irene in 2011.

UI estimated that nearly everyone will have power back by Monday at the latest. If you're a UI customer you can click here to view a map showing when your power will be restored.

UI crews, contractors and mutual-assistance partners had restored approximately 115,000 customers who lost service during Tropical Storm Isaias. The company remains on track to substantially complete restoration work Monday.

“We have crews working across our service territory, and with the additional resources, we have intensified our efforts in some of the harder-hit areas of Fairfield County, which sustained particularly brutal damage due to Isaias,” said Tony Marone, UI’s President and CEO. “We expect to continue to make good progress today, and with the arrival of hot weather we are mindful of the urgency of our obligation to get the power back on for all of our customers.”

The expanded restoration team is addressing approximately 1,500 separate outage-causing events, including approximately 600 single-customer outages, which will need to be individually restored.

Eversource estimated it will make significant progress by the end of the weekend and have its restoration substantially complete by Tuesday at 11:59 p.m. (See town-by-town estimates below).

With the support of utility workers from across the country and Canada, more than 2,300 line, tree and support crews are now on the ground as the energy company continues its urgent effort to restore the remaining 88,000 customers in Connecticut without power, Eversource officials said.

“We know how frustrated our customers who still don’t have power are, and we have thousands of utility workers repairing the extensive damage across the state today who are relentless in their determination to restore power for all customers,” said Eversource President of Regional Electric Operations Craig Hallstrom. “We hear our customers and community leaders, and we will not rest until this massive restoration effort is complete.”

To support this massive restoration effort and provide accommodations for the thousands of out-of-state crews, the Eversource logistics team worked to secure more than 6,500 beds for crews and has been serving more than 30,000 meals daily to ensure crews are rested and fed so they can focus on restoring power for customers, company officials said.

Gov. Ned Lamont said "This schedule of restorations for our cities and towns should act as deadlines, with a clear goal of getting power and air conditioning back sooner. I expect and demand that Eversource act with urgency over the coming days."

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-CT, unloaded on Eversource on Saturday in a steady stream of posts on Twitter.

"Time for management house cleaning at Eversource, especially after total annual pay of $40 million or more. Perhaps CT should seek a different company to run our utilities. Anger & frustration are boiling over—mine included. This injury added to the insult of higher rates seems like the last straw.

"Eversource’s CEO, Jim Judge, was paid $19.8 million last year, but can’t be bothered to face the public, return phone calls, restore power, or say when. He should go. As I’ve said repeatedly, thank you to the utility line workers, crews, & others out there at all hours under tough conditions repairing lines & restoring power. Mismanagement at the top is not their fault.

"I pressed Eversource in our phone conversation today, along with Sen. @ChrisMurphyCT, to restore power more quickly & inform customers more candidly. No adequate explanation for delays & unpreparedness. Eversource top officials told me by phone today that power will be restored by Tuesday. Like you, I’ll believe it when I see it," Blumenthal concluded.

Eversource released town-by-town power restoration estimates.

Information via Eversource:

Eversource struggled Tuesday and Wednesday with its outage reporting system, but company officials said the issues were resolved Thursday.

Connecticut’s Public Utilities Regulatory Authority has opened an investigation into Eversource and UI’s preparation and response to the storm.

UI said it began preparing for the storm last week and reached out to its mutual assistance group for out-of-state resources and contractors.

“All this planning is consistent with the Emergency Response Plan, on file with the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, for a storm of this magnitude,” said UI President and CEO Tony Marone. “The storm we prepared for is the storm we got.”

State officials have been more critical of Eversource’s preparation and response. Eversource underestimated the storm’s impact and didn’t have enough line crews, according to records filed with PURA.

People should still stay away from downed power lines and abide by road closures and caution tape near storm damage areas. Power outages can be reported online to Eversource and United Illuminating. Eversource customers can report outages by calling 800-286-2000 and UI customers can call 800-722-5584.

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Eversource customers can also sign up for two-way texting to get updates on outage status and restoration estimates.

UI outages as of Monday morning:

Tap communities on the map below for the latest outage numbers: