Public Irate With CL&P

Local residents and elected officials demanded answers from the electric utility companies. At the public hearing in Norwalk on Monday evening, speakers shared their experiences following the storm that hit the area in mid-March and wanted to know why it took so long to restore power.

“There is no question the utility companies took too long,” said State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal. “We live in the Northeast. The severity of this storm should not have been a surprise.”

The Connecticut Department of Public Utility Control called the meeting as part of its investigation into the response following the March 12 storm that left many communities without power for days. The public testimony will become part of the investigation though officials from Connecticut Light and Power were on hand to listen. Norwalk residents shared their experiences trying to communicate with CL&P.

“The public needed information,” said Keith Satter of West Norwalk. “It was not unusual to call CL&P and (hear a recording) that had not been updated for more than 12 hours.”

Satter called upon the utility company to communicate with customers more effectively to allay fears and allow residents to plan. A teacher in Darien, Satter said he observed people logging on to computers at the Darien public library hoping to learn when their power would be restored and finding nothing helpful on the company's website.

Other speakers described live wires left unattended for days despite repeated calls to the emergency hotline. They said wires posed hazardous conditions on their streets but could also have restricted the passage of emergency vehicles.

“If Brien McMahon High School had caught fire, trucks could not have gotten there in time,” said Urpan Mulvehill, who lives near the high school.

Ellen Morrone, who also had to contend with live wires on her street, said it only took 20 minutes for linemen to address the downed electric wire but it took several days for CL&P crews to get to her street. She said she lost a microwave oven, a television and a computer as a result of the storm but is more troubled by a lingering sense of fear.

“We deserve to know what happened,” said State Rep. Larry Cafero.

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