Letter to the Editor: NSTAR to Present Sherborn New Plans for Emergency Storm Responses

The following is a letter to the editor from Sherborn Selectmen Paul DeRensis.

NSTAR's representative Joanne O'Leary will be coming before the Sherborn Board of Selectmen at our meeting on March 22 to discuss NSTAR's new Emergency Response Plan (ERP) and how it will impact Sherborn. 

She will be coming with Walter Salvi, NSTAR's Manager of Corporate Relations who going forward will be playing a more active role in their ERP, Level 3, 4 and 5 for Sherborn.

This is our chance as a community to make clear Sherborn's issues, this is an open public meeting.

Please remember that the town of Sherborn had extended periods of power outages this year with Hurricane Irene and the Halloween Nor'easter.

Having been on the phone with NSTAR representatives on a frequent basis during both Hurricane Irene and the Halloween Nor'easter, I have first hand knowledge and experience that NSTAR's performance in Sherborn left a lot of room for improvement.

An investigation by the state's Department of Public Utilities and by the Attorney General's office has criticized NSTAR's preparations and handling of these storms. The state legislature is considering adopting punitive legislation allowing fining of utilities who fail to address storms adequately.

The best way to avoid another episode of extended power outages is to address NSTAR's proposed plan for Sherborn for future storms at this meeting.

This is our opportunity to find out what is in store for us.  

Very truly yours,

Paul DeRensis

River Farm Sherborn, Massachusetts