CPOPE
12-29-2010, 06:08 AM
Posted Dec 28, 2010 @ 06:00 AM
Last update Dec 28, 2010 @ 06:40 AM
BRIDGEWATER — Horrendous. Pathetic. Abysmal.
That’s how area officials described an electric company’s response to the weekend storm that left thousands of people across the region without power and angered the municipal emergency crews who struggled to pick up their slack.
Power utility National Grid apologized to city and town officials Monday afternoon, telling them that although their company had planned for the storm in advance, its crews were overwhelmed by the multitude of downed wires and intense weather conditions.
“It’s been very difficult. We have hundreds of crews on the grounds working to restore services,” said Debbie Drew, a spokesperson for National Grid.
“But our goal is to restore power to the majority of our customers by late Tuesday.”
But their excuses didn’t satisfy the local authorities who scrambled to respond to countless reports of more than 500 downed wires and electrical outages after blizzard-like conditions ravaged the Brockton area, dumping between 10 and 20 inches of snow and cutting power in numerous neighborhoods. Public safety officials can only protect residents from wires – they can’t turn power off or on without electric company representatives.
Fire chiefs and town officials in more than a dozen communities including Brockton, Bridgewater, Weymouth, Abington, East Bridgewater and Quincy tapped into an hourlong conference call with the National Grid at 1 p.m. Monday to hear an apology and discuss how to quickly remedy the communication breakdown.
“A little over 20,000 customers were out in the south shore area,” said Dave Fredericks, a representative from National Grid who participated in the conference call.
Fredericks cited the number of residential power outages in the following areas: 8,800 in Brockton, 2,900 in Hanover, 4,700 in Weymouth. More than 500 outages were reported in Bridgewater, according to town officials, and additional outages occurred in West Bridgewater, East Bridgewater, Easton, Stoughton and Rockland.
National Grid crews had been planning for the storm since before Christmas, Fredericks said, and they were not “caught off guard.”
“They grossly underestimated how fast the storm was going to hit and how busy it was going to get,” Fredericks said. He said the company thought the storm wouldn’t strike until later in the evening.
But local officials did not accept the apology.
“This is horrible,” said East Bridgewater fire chief Ryon Pratt. “I want to know, why has this happened?”
In the past, Pratt said, each community has been assigned a National Grid representative, making for a more personal and timely line of communication when storms hit.
“We’re not going to be able to put the genie back in the bottle,” Pratt said.
Brockton Mayor Linda Balzotti called the company’s response “abysmal.”
“You’re a monopoly and we can’t go anywhere else,” she said to National Grid representatives.
“If you were in office like me, you could have been kicked out.”
Bridgewater town manager Troy Clarkson asked the company for mitigation.
“Our plan is to bill you,” for time lost for poor performance, Clarkson said. National Grid’s response was apologetic – they promised to work together and talk about Clarkson’s concerns in the future.
After the conference call, National Grid worked with area fire chiefs to assign a company crew – which consists of approximately two employees and a company vehicle – to each community.
Towns covered by National Grid include: Abington, Avon, Brockton, Bridgewater, East Bridgewater, Easton, Halifax, Hanson, Stoughton, West Bridgewater and Whitman.
Another conference call between town officials and National Grid representatives has been scheduled for 1 p.m. today.
Last update Dec 28, 2010 @ 06:40 AM
BRIDGEWATER — Horrendous. Pathetic. Abysmal.
That’s how area officials described an electric company’s response to the weekend storm that left thousands of people across the region without power and angered the municipal emergency crews who struggled to pick up their slack.
Power utility National Grid apologized to city and town officials Monday afternoon, telling them that although their company had planned for the storm in advance, its crews were overwhelmed by the multitude of downed wires and intense weather conditions.
“It’s been very difficult. We have hundreds of crews on the grounds working to restore services,” said Debbie Drew, a spokesperson for National Grid.
“But our goal is to restore power to the majority of our customers by late Tuesday.”
But their excuses didn’t satisfy the local authorities who scrambled to respond to countless reports of more than 500 downed wires and electrical outages after blizzard-like conditions ravaged the Brockton area, dumping between 10 and 20 inches of snow and cutting power in numerous neighborhoods. Public safety officials can only protect residents from wires – they can’t turn power off or on without electric company representatives.
Fire chiefs and town officials in more than a dozen communities including Brockton, Bridgewater, Weymouth, Abington, East Bridgewater and Quincy tapped into an hourlong conference call with the National Grid at 1 p.m. Monday to hear an apology and discuss how to quickly remedy the communication breakdown.
“A little over 20,000 customers were out in the south shore area,” said Dave Fredericks, a representative from National Grid who participated in the conference call.
Fredericks cited the number of residential power outages in the following areas: 8,800 in Brockton, 2,900 in Hanover, 4,700 in Weymouth. More than 500 outages were reported in Bridgewater, according to town officials, and additional outages occurred in West Bridgewater, East Bridgewater, Easton, Stoughton and Rockland.
National Grid crews had been planning for the storm since before Christmas, Fredericks said, and they were not “caught off guard.”
“They grossly underestimated how fast the storm was going to hit and how busy it was going to get,” Fredericks said. He said the company thought the storm wouldn’t strike until later in the evening.
But local officials did not accept the apology.
“This is horrible,” said East Bridgewater fire chief Ryon Pratt. “I want to know, why has this happened?”
In the past, Pratt said, each community has been assigned a National Grid representative, making for a more personal and timely line of communication when storms hit.
“We’re not going to be able to put the genie back in the bottle,” Pratt said.
Brockton Mayor Linda Balzotti called the company’s response “abysmal.”
“You’re a monopoly and we can’t go anywhere else,” she said to National Grid representatives.
“If you were in office like me, you could have been kicked out.”
Bridgewater town manager Troy Clarkson asked the company for mitigation.
“Our plan is to bill you,” for time lost for poor performance, Clarkson said. National Grid’s response was apologetic – they promised to work together and talk about Clarkson’s concerns in the future.
After the conference call, National Grid worked with area fire chiefs to assign a company crew – which consists of approximately two employees and a company vehicle – to each community.
Towns covered by National Grid include: Abington, Avon, Brockton, Bridgewater, East Bridgewater, Easton, Halifax, Hanson, Stoughton, West Bridgewater and Whitman.
Another conference call between town officials and National Grid representatives has been scheduled for 1 p.m. today.