First Selectman Dissapointed With Changed CL&P Estimates

I am extremely disappointed and angry about CL&P's inability to make good on their promise to have Bethel at 99% recovery by midnight last night.  As of 6:00am today, about 1,566 (18%) of Bethel customers remain without power.  I was informed earlier this morning that today and tomorrow, CL&P is dispatching 20 repair crews (10 tree, 10 line) into the Nashville, Bethpage/Cherry Lane/Grassy Plain and Stony Hill neighborhoods and are expected to continue working in those areas for the next 48 hours.

The American Red Cross emergency shelter at the municipal center remains open for hot showers, hot food at mealtimes and overnight stays. The transfer station is open today until 3:00pm. 

Brush can be dropped off free of charge, and food that spoiled as a result of the power outage can be disposed of at the rate of .20 cents per pound.  No transfer station permit is needed for either dropoff.

Governor Malloy has extended the deadline for "in person" voter registration and absentee ballots to Monday, November 6 at noon.  The Town Clerk's office will open at 8:30am on Monday and will still be accepting new voter registrations in person up until noon.

A few callers to town hall questioned whether we are pushing CL&P hard enough to get the resources needed to bring all of our town back on line.  

The following shows the percentage of homes still without power in each town compared to Bethel:

New Fairfield  45%
Ridgefield       42%
Newtown        40%
Redding          34%
Brookfield       28%
Bethel           18%

Only the City of Danbury has a lower rate than Bethel with outages currently at 12%, but Danbury's outages were slightly less than 65% from the beginning of the recovery. All of the towns listed above had outages above 90%  

I know statistics like these do not make you warm nor light your home if you are one of those still without power, but I want all Bethel citizens to know that your emergency management team and I are working with CL&P and pushing them hard on your behalf, 24 hours per day throughout this weekend until every home is reconnected.