Westport, CT – First Selectman Jim Marpe has provided testimony to the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) for its Public Hearing related to the investigation of Eversource’s preparation and response to Tropical Storm Isaias. Below is the filed testimony. 

The PURA hearing will take place on October 21 – October 23.  Members of the public who wish to participate in the public hearing must register via the Zoom links provided on the Notice of Hearing (see link below).  If members of the public want to weigh in prior to that in writing, they can send that comment in any time by emailing PURA.ExecutiveSecretary@ct.gov.  Remember to include the docket number 20-08-03 on the subject line.

http://www.dpuc.state.ct.us/DOCKCURR.NSF/2b67041f3f12d444852569ff005bcf7c/15cb545eb47e7958852585f800699dd2?OpenDocument&Highlight=0,20-08-03

On behalf of the residents of the Town of Westport, and as its First Selectman, I extend my sincere thanks to the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) for holding this hearing.  I want to use this opportunity to strongly recommend the utility companies establish a better disaster response and communications standard than what was experienced during Tropical Storm Isaias. 

Westporters are well aware of the destruction that Tropical Storm Isaias brought to our community.  In its immediate aftermath, 97 percent of Eversource’s Westport customers (households and businesses) were without power.  Trees and debris, often including utility wires, blocked roads and driveways, trapping many residents in their homes and preventing emergency response personnel from responding to potential life-threatening situations.  Traffic signals were not functional, causing hazardous driving conditions for those who could venture out. Businesses and those working from home were unable to communicate due to the loss of power, cellular and WiFi services.   

What was most discouraging, however, was the delay in Eversource’s make-safe process that took days to commence. Westport officials stood ready to respond, but in many instances, were paralyzed in the 48-hour period following the storm, while awaiting Eversource to make our community safe by de-energizing their downed wires. This left residents in those blocked areas stranded and helpless should a medical or life-threatening emergency occur. The most critical part of the town’s storm response is to be able to help those in immediate need or distress.  Such blocked access cannot be an acceptable scenario in America in the year 2020.  We need the utility companies to know that they must organize to make communities safe as quickly as possible following any storm. Any delay to “make safe” leaves our residents extremely vulnerable and helpless.

To compound the issue, many residents were also without cellular service or WiFi.  We could not reach residents through mobile, landlines, email, website or social media communications.  Being unable to physically reach those same individuals left the town in a desperate state.

In Westport, Eversource was mostly non-responsive, non-communicative, and unable to coordinate with the town when it did begin restoration.  I would like to share some examples of Eversource’s lack of coordination and communication with Westport during Storm Isaias.

1. Eversource’s response was delayed and unorganized:

• Per Eversource’s regulations, towns should have been provided a “make safe crew” within 24 hours after the storm, so that wires could be de-energized before any tree work or clean up could begin. Westport was told it would get two crews at 6am on Friday, approximately 60 hours after the storm, but was then told one crew was on its way at 10am that Friday.  The one crew arrived much later.  As a result of Eversource’s inefficiencies in providing a timely “make safe” crew(s), Westport’s Public Works response was unable to address wire-related incidents for three days after the storm. Eversource could not make the community safe by de-energizing their wires first. 

• Westport was only given one make safe crew, which was insufficient with 97% of the town being without power and the massive amount of storm related damage.

• Other Eversource crews were doing restoration work even though make safe was not yet complete.

• Eversource technicians, or their subcontractor crews, were reported idling for many hours at various school parking lots, while they awaited guidance and instructions.

2. Ratepayers overwhelmingly complained of poor Eversource customer service:

• Ratepayers had difficulty reaching an Eversource Customer Service Representative to report and follow-up on outages.  When contact was made, many Representatives refused to initiate work orders because their records indicated that either the power in the respective area had been restored, even when it wasn’t, or that the entire neighborhood was out, thereby negating the need to report the outage.  Ratepayers should have the ability to understand Eversource’s procedures and should expect a reasonable level of customer service – particularly in an emergency situation- so they know when they need to report and follow up on an outage, versus when they do not.

3. The Town was unable to get key information from Eversource: 

• Despite numerous attempts, Westport officials were unable to reach the Eversource Operations Center until the afternoon on the second day after the storm.  Substantive contact between a municipality and Eversource should be made within 24 hours after a storm, and ideally before the storm begins. 

• Eversource outreach to the town was sporadic and often consisted of general briefings, which did not have useful or specific information.

4. There was a lack of coordination between Westport and Eversource:

• Westport emergency response leadership was not told where the restoration crews would be located, so our clean-up crews were unable to follow the crews and coordinate with Eversource.   

• The Westport Emergency Management Director was told late Friday that National Guard troops would be coming at 9am the next day.  Westport did not know what the National Guard would be doing and was not told where the troops were working.  Instead, Westport had to use its Police Department to find the Guard.  As a result, there was no coordination between the Town and the National Guard.

• The normal process for sharing outages with Eversource was changed and our Public Works Department was told to enter this information in an unmanageable spreadsheet.  Westport’s Community Relations Specialist, Tracy Alston was very good with responding to our inquiries, but the information she had internally was limited.  It was clear from Westport’s perspective that Eversource had an internal communications problem and that it was mostly unprepared.

• Even toward the end of the restoration process, Eversource still could not tell Westport specifically where their crews were working.

In the 48-hour aftermath of the storm and tornado, there was no information or specific restoration plans forthcoming from any Eversource representative or official, other than general information.  We could only quote the Eversource website information, which was inaccurate and vague. 

CONCLUSION

In summary, Westport and its residents found Eversource’s performance during Storm Isaias to be unacceptable.  Its inability to quickly respond to life and property threatening “make safe” situations was irresponsible. Its failure to communicate immediately with our emergency response team and our residents introduced additional risk and anxiety into an already difficult and dangerous situation. Additionally, its apparent struggle in communicating effectively on an internal basis has left us wondering about the quality and responsiveness of Eversource in future disaster situations.

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