Communication Breakdown: Valley Town Officials Taking Hard Look at CL&P

Farmington Valley town officials, as well as U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy, D-5th District, voiced their frustration with Connecticut Light & Power’s response to the power outage crisis at an afternoon news conference today.

According to Canton First Selectman Dick Barlow, 52 percent of the residents throughout the valley towns remained without power as of 1:28 p.m. today.  Avon held at 46 percent, Canton at 39 percent, Farmington at 66 percent, Granby at 36 percent, and Simsbury at 53 percent.  CL&P’s promise of near-total restoration for all towns in Connecticut has been pushed to Monday before midnight.

Barlow noted that the figures provided to town officials by CL&P have been fluctuating wildly, with the provided explanation from the power company being that the computer reading the circuits could not be counted on to be accurate.

“The one frustration that we have is that we do not have what we feel is accurate information, timely information,” Barlow said. He continued to say that CL&P’s reported numbers of crews working to restore power have been similarly unreliable.  Barlow said that CL&P told him that 35 crews were working in Canton yesterday, while the actual number had been five. Only eleven crews were working in Canton as of today.

Murphy took the podium to extol the fortitude displayed by the valley towns as well as to announce that there are at least three investigations either underway or being requested to examine what went wrong in the process of restoring power to the Farmington Valley. Confirmed investigations included one by the state of Connecticut, one by the attorney general, and one requested by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

“We are going to need to hear, loud and clear, both the empirical and anecdotal evidence of what went wrong here in the Farmington Valley, and I look forward to being part of that process,” he said.

Murphy said that next steps following complete restoration would be to make sure Farmington Valley taxpayers have been compensated for the incredible expense incurred due to the storm. He said that the attorney general will examine as to whether CL&P has any responsibility to help towns and individuals pay for the cleanup process.

Murphy also said that there is a federal disaster process underway that may lead to federal funds being funneled into Connecticut towns to help pay for shelter operations and other extraordinary emergency response measures.  Murphy said that he was working to make sure that every eligible cost would be covered by FEMA’s emergency disaster declaration process.

Avon town council Chairman Mark Zacchio addressed the issue of school openings. Avon schools will be closed through Tuesday at the least. Simsbury, Farmington, and Granby schools will be closed through Monday, at the least.  Canton schools open again on Monday, following an assessment of roadways conducted today.

Avon town manager Brandon Robertson said that shelters will remain open until no longer needed.  Shelter locations include Avon High School, the Canton community center, Farmington High School, the Granby senior center, and the First Congregational Church of Simsbury.

Local elections will occur Nov. 8 as planned. Residents are advised to turn to media sources, including your local Patch.com site, for polling locations.

Simsbury First Selectman Mary Glassman said that Farmington Valley town officials will focus their efforts on next steps and contingency plans for the coming days.  Granby town manager Bill Smith said that the towns will have to look at regional sheltering going forward and “piggybacking” with other communities to assist each other.  Communication efforts between utility
companies and towns will also have to be reinforced in the future.

“I do believe we need to have an oversight review to seriously look at why this has occurred and so it will never happen again, even if we have an emergency that is not nearly as bad as this one,” Smith said.

Farmington town council Chairman Mike Clark emphasized this aspect of the crisis, noting the problems caused across towns by CL&P’s delayed responses. “We need accurate information, from the power companies, from … AT&T and Comcast as well, so that we can pass that information on to our constituents,” he said.

Clark also noted potential issues with the “Scotch tape” approach CL&P took to some repairs, with workarounds used by the company in Farmington actually causing a rise in power outages over the weekend.

“What we have in place today, the response of CLP [sic], we all feel is what we should have had in place on Monday,” he said.

For several residents of Woodcliff Drive in Granby, who still had downed power lines blocking their driveways as of 1:30 p.m. Sunday, the news that they could be without power beyond Sunday was more than they could bear.

Indeed, being without power for what could be for up to 12 days amounted, for them, to be more than a simple inconvenience.

"I'd like the [COO] of CL&P [Jeff Butler] to come live out of my house [without power] in a wheelchair," said Woodcliff resident Emily Landers, a paraplegic. "Come lift my garage door in a wheelchair without power. ... Go down ramps and [operate] a Coleman grill and get a pot of hot water that I just boiled. Come on, Mr. [COO], help me out."

Landers' neighbor Robert Flanigan, Jr. said that he and his family — wife Toni and sons Robert III and Brendan — had been blocked in their home because of downed power lines in front their driveway.

"I called CL&P Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and [Saturday] and repeatedly asked to get the vehicle out," Robert Jr. said. "I told them I physically could not get out of my driveway to get to work. I asked if I could cut the lines — I have bolt cutters — and they said I cannot touch them."

Robert Flanigan Jr. said that the Granby Memorial High football team, of which Flanigan's son, Robert III, is a member, came and raised the lines themselves yesterday to allow one of their family vehicles to get out of the driveway.

"The only help we've gotten is from the football team," Robert Flanigan III said.

Adding to the Flanigan's frustration is that they have seen trucks from other service providers — namely Cox Cable and AT&T — on their street and restoring their respective services.

Robert Jr. said that he does not hold town officials responsible for his family's plight.

"I don't have any problem with the town; they did what they could," Robert Jr. said. "I blame the governor and the head of CL&P solely. I want [Malloy] out of office."

In East Granby, where CL&P is expected to meet its 99 percent goal by midnight tonight, First Selectman Jim Hayden said that he was pleased with the progress the utility had made.

"There will be sporadic outages, and that's a concern," Hayden said. "I will be working with our CL&P representative to button those up as soon as possible."