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FAIRFIELD COUNTY, Conn. Local legislators expressed their mounting frustration Friday with delays by Connecticut Light & Power Co. in restoring power to customers nearly a week after last Saturday's October Nor'easter.
The storm knocked out power to a record number of Connecticut households about 800,000 with more than 300,000 still in the dark as of Friday afternoon.
House Republican Leader Lawrence F. Cafero Jr., R-Norwalk, on Friday called for a special December session to pass laws requiring additional utility work crews, minimum staffing levels and other initiatives he says will shorten future electrical blackouts.
"Knowing that the Legislature will not be in regular session until February, we should come back in special session by December to pass legislation that will bolster our state's response to natural disasters and shorten the time anyone is without power,'' Cafero said.
"The legislature can and must act now before the storm season really sets in to mitigate the possibility for another crisis this winter. We have been hit with two major storms within two months, so the need to act is pretty clear,'' Cafero said.
Cafero called upon the Democrats and and Gov. Dannel Malloy to set a special session date immediately to pass laws that could include requiring utilities to train and maintain emergency "stand-by crews'' made up of first responder personnel, retired utility workers and local responders such as firefighters.
Meanwhile, Senator Toni Boucher, R-Wilton, has written a letter to Malloy, calling on the administration to "take the lead" in making sure the legislature pushes for change in the upcoming session.
"The administration must take the lead in protecting the people of Connecticut," Boucher said. "The state must hold the utility companies accountable."
In her letter, Boucher expresses concern that CL&P has not learned its lesson and did not make necessary fixes suggested after Tropical Storm Irene in August.
"There needs to be a better process for determining where and when line crews must be called in to restore power," Boucher writes. "As with Irene, it is clear CL&P was not prepared for the storm."
Boucher said some of the most important recommendations that were made following Tropical Storm Irene were not followed with the latest storm. These include better notice and coordination between utility management and line crews from Connecticut and out of state, she said. She also states in the letter that it would be vital to "implement plans for more rigorous tree management."
Boucher added "state laws may need to be changed to permit tree-cutting in right of ways; state regulation of utility emergency management plans and procedures; and storm preparations to delegate more authority to public utility representatives in each town."
"After Tropical Storm Irene, CL&P had an opportunity to do right by their customers, clearly they didn't prepare and it's like déjà-vu all over again," added Boucher.
Malloy announced Friday that President Barack Obama has authorized additional FEMA assistance for Connecticut, based on an amended application filed by the governor Tuesday.
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