The first letter below is a request from Paul Adams and me for a hearing in front of the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy of National Grid and NSTAR.
The second letter is my more detailed request for the committee to look into the need for legislation or beefed up regulations regarding minimum standards for customer service during a storm event and its aftermath.
Feel free to comment on your own situation after the storm.
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September 1, 2011
The Honorable John D. Keenan, House
Chairman
Joint Committee
on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy
State House, Room 473B
Boston, MA
02133
Dear Chairman
Keenan:
As members of the
Committee and on behalf of the House
Republican Caucus, we write to engage your thoughts on having the Committee
call on representatives from National Grid and NSTAR to appear at a public
hearing to discuss public outcry from prolonged power outages that plagued Massachusetts in the
wake of Tropical Storm Irene.
As you know, on
Sunday, August 28th, cities and towns across the Commonwealth
were barraged with both severe winds reaching upwards of 80 mph and flooding
rains as a result of Tropical Storm Irene. Subsequently, power outages were
reported as far reaching as Berkshire and Barnstable Counties.
At the height of the power outages, nearly 700,000 residents were without power
around the Commonwealth. At the time of this letter being written, close to
65,000 households remain without electrical power. As members of the
Committee and on behalf of the residents of Massachusetts, we feel this event
reached such a critical point that we respectfully request the Committee to
call on officials from both National Grid and NSTAR to appear before a public
hearing to discuss how to better pursue preventative measures to ensure that a
situation like this does not occur again.
The purpose of
this public hearing would be threefold. First, we think it would be helpful for
National Grid and NSTAR to discuss their current emergency response plans, and
any improvements that can be made to such plans as a result of Tropical Storm
Irene. Second, the public hearing could facilitate dialogue surrounding the
failed communications between the electric companies and both customers and
municipalities during, and in the wake of, the storm. Finally, it goes without
saying the need to address residents’ reports of untimely response by National
Grid and NSTAR to the widespread power outages would be imperative.
We appreciate and
applaud the tireless work of the electrical workers that have labored day and
night to get power back up and running to hundreds of thousands of households.
Since we realize the Department of Public Utilities will most likely conduct
similar hearings, we respectfully defer to your expertise as to the best way to
proceed in conjunction with the Administration.
We appreciate
your consideration of this request and would be happy to discuss it with you at
your convenience. We look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
Representative
Paul Adams
Representative Randy Hunt
17th Essex District
5th Barnstable District
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September 1, 2011
Benjamin Downing, Senate Chairman
John Keenan, House
Chairman
Joint Committee on Telecommunications,
Utilities and Energy
Statehouse Room 413F
Boston, MA 02133
Re: Substandard
customer service by NSTAR in wake of Hurricane
Irene and
concerns
about our electrical grid on Cape Cod
Honorable Chairmen:
Background
Hurricane Irene, which was downgraded to a tropical storm before
moving across Massachusetts, affected Cape Cod and the Islands on Sunday,
August 28th. The height of the winds were felt from approximately
11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., with a maximum gust of 72 mph measured at the
Massachusetts Maritime Academy on Buzzards Bay. Sustained winds were between 40
and 50 mph. It was not a significant rain event for Cape
Cod.
On Monday, August 29th, NSTAR’s
recorded customer service message requested customers to call back on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, NSTAR’s recorded message informed everyone from Cape
Cod to expect repairs to be completed by Saturday, September 3rd
at 10:00 p.m. or for a few areas by Sunday at 10:00 p.m.
A timeframe such as this is equivalent to no
information at all. For someone without electricity, the difference between one
day and four days is huge. If a person knew with certainty on Tuesday that
power would not be restored until Saturday, that would constitute actionable
information and might persuade that person to throw out their perishables, rent
a motel room, or stay with family or a friend who has power.
NSTAR gave us no information on which a
reasonable person could make a decision. On Monday, NSTAR reported that 162,000
customers across their systems had no electricity. On Tuesday, NSTAR reported
that 84,000 customers remained without power. The fact was that none of our
residents without power knew if they’d see electricity restored in 4 hours or 4
days.
Late Monday evening, NSTAR posted a chart at
nstar.com of the number of customers by community, the number of customers
without power, and the percentage of customers without power. This chart
provided no perspective on when to expect restoration of power. On Tuesday, the
chart was updated to reflect the number of customers by town with restored
power and included the Saturday and Sunday dates for expected repairs in Cape Cod towns. Again, NSTAR’s communications lacked
operable information.
Steps
Forward
First, let me be clear that I am in no way
criticizing the work of NSTAR’s repair crews or the people responsible for
prioritizing the work and dispatching the crews. They appear to be doing the job
of getting customers back up and running. My criticism is aimed at the lack of
information provided to the public by NSTAR, leaving no one able to make
critical decisions relative to handling their personal affairs, business
interests, and the needs of relatives unable to manage through the downtime.
An effective and credible customer service
function requires accurate and timely information. In the aftermath of a storm
like this, a utility is faced with determining where the outages are and the
causes for each of the outages. Then it must prioritize the blackout areas
based on public safety, greatest number of customers restored per repair, etc.
Furthermore, personnel, replacement equipment, and machinery availability has
to be considered as well as timing of subcontractors (tree removal services,
e.g.)
In a perfect world, the exact date and time
of power restoration for each customer would allow flawless decision making. In
the real world, each repair site has its nuances and necessary resources are
not always available at the right time. Having
said that, this is the nature of the beast and utilities do the best they can
to juggle the moving parts in making decisions to prioritize the repairs.
Once decisions are made about where and when
to send repair crews, the public has a right to know what the decisions are. As
an example, if there are 500 repair work sites and fewer than 500 crews with
the appropriate equipment, an ordering must be established by management. As a
customer, to know that your blackout area is near the top of the list versus
near the bottom of the list is important, actionable information.
As a minimum customer service standard, I
propose the following:
1)
During any
event involving the loss of a utility service, the utility company must provide
information regarding where the areas without service are by municipality and
commonly known names of areas within the municipalities. This can be made
available using an online mapping tool, smart phone apps, reverse 9-1-1
systems, through the news media, the 2-1-1 system, or any other method that is
widely used and accomplishes the goal of disseminating information effectively
and efficiently.
2)
Accompanying
or integrated into the above information must be a list by region in which
coordinated repair crews are working to include repair projects that are
completed and those that are pending, in the most likely order of dispatch. To
the best of management’s knowledge, estimated completion dates for each repair
project or group of related repair projects must be made available.
3)
The first
posting of the above information must occur within 12 hours of dispatching the
first repair crew and be updated no less frequently than every 12 hours until
all repairs related to the event are complete. Real time posting of information
is encouraged.
4)
An archived
copy of these reports, or “snapshots” of real time data at intervals of no less
than 12 hours, must be submitted to the Department of Public Utilities within
30 days of completion of the event reporting.
The above minimum standard of public
reporting during disaster events could be codified in law or by DPU regulation.
However it is decided, I would
encourage the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy to
take up the issue as soon as practicable. I will be happy to sponsor
legislation to this effect if we agree that legislation is warranted.
Electrical
Grid on Cape Cod
Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene has brought to light a situation that
is potentially far reaching with respect to the electrical grid on Cape Cod. The storm was large but not particularly fierce
on the Cape. Given that, the amount of power
disruptions seem out of line with the severity of the weather event, which points
to issues regarding the stalwartness of the electrical grid and what might
happen if we experience a hurricane.
I suggest we, as a committee, gather
additional information regarding expectations for damage from this storm versus
what actually happened and invite some disaster planners from the state and
private industry to assess our preparedness for future events.
Sincerely,
Randy Hunt,
State Rep - 5th Barnstable District
Committee Member - TUE
