The president of CL&P’s parent company said Wednesday has established a $10 million fund that will assist residents who experienced losses incurred from the historic Oct. 29 snow storm.
“This storm disrupted the lives of more than 830,000 CL&P customers,” Charles W. Shivery, president and chief executive officer of Northeast Utilities, said in a prepared release issued Wednesday. “I understand the hardship that this has caused, and I realize that we did not meet the goals that we set for ourselves and upon which many of our customers relied, and for that I apologize.”
Shivery announced a series of initiatives designed to offer relief to customers severely impacted by the October storm and “enhance future storm restoration response,” the release stated.
The storm took its toll on many communities, all of which waited for days as CL&P promised again and again a deadline of getting power restored to 99-percent of customers. In Bethel, power was nearly completely restored roughly eight days after the storm, however many communities other towns and cities in the state were still getting power back up until Wednesday.
“An apology, however, is only the first of the measures we will take,” Shivery continued. “I have spoken extensively with Governor Malloy and told him we will continue to take action to meet our customers’, his and our own expectations.”
Shivery has offered Gov. Dannel P. Malloy $10 million from NU and the Northeast Utilities Foundation to establish a fund to directly assist CL&P residential customers who experienced losses as a result of the recent natural disaster.
NU employees, as well as businesses and residents in Connecticut, will be able to contribute to the fund, which will be managed and administered at the governor’s discretion, the release stated.
CL&P also announced it has committed to waive late payment fees for its customers through the remainder of 2011 and arrange flexible payment programs for those customers who experienced losses and disruptions to their lives.
Understanding the damage caused by this historic storm, CL&P will also provide additional resources to help with residual tree-trimming and clean up, at no cost to cities and towns impacted by the Oct. 29 storm, the press release stated.
Shivery indicated to Governor Malloy that NU would pay for the hiring of an independent, third-party firm to conduct a more comprehensive review of the company’s preparedness and response to the pre-Halloween snowstorm, and assist with the implementation of appropriate recommendations, the release stated.
The former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, James Lee Witt, is also conducting an independent, third-party assessment on the response.
Earlier this week, Shivery called Thomas Kuhn, president of the Edison Electric Institute – the electric utility industry trade association – and asked the organization to review the current mutual aid process.
“I’m especially grateful to all of our employees for their professionalism, dedication and concern for our customers throughout this unprecedented restoration,” added Shivery.
This article was first posted on Madison Patch.
