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Crews have been working around the clock to make repairs on thousands of reported outages that left hundreds of thousands of Connecticut residents in the dark, many of whom were unable to get in contact with their utility companies.
More than 700,000 Connecticut residents were left without power after Tropical Storm Isaias, Eversource, and United Illuminating reported.
There were multiple reports that many were unable to get in touch with their utility companies or successfully report an outage, leaving some in a lurch as they waited without information on when they could expect to turn the lights back on.
In response, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont is calling for an extensive investigation into both Eversource and United Illuminating.
“I am calling on the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority to conduct a thorough investigation of the state’s utility companies on their response to Tropical Storm Isaias,” he said.
“Several years ago, Connecticut experience large-scale outages that took days to recover from, and we were told that the utilities were improving their resources so that they can be prepared for the next time Mother Nature inevitably hits again.
“And now here we are, with a wholly inadequate response to another storm,” Lamont continued. “I’m asking for PURA to begin this investigation so that we can determine whether the companies are meeting their legal obligations and whether any penalties need to be applied.
“The people of Connecticut deserve better than the service they are receiving.”
Eversource President of Regional Electric Operations Craig Hallstrom said that the company “understands our customers’ frustration and knows it is an especially challenging time to be without power given the ongoing pandemic and hot summer weather.”
Hallstrom said that Eversource has hundreds of crews spread out across the state addressing more than 10,000 repairs and working to rebuild the electric system.
“Our entire Eversource team is dedicated to this effort and is working with an extreme sense of urgency to get all of our customers the power they need,” he said. “The impact from this storm and its widespread damage can’t be overstated.”
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