Press Release: UI Releases Results of Independent Survey on Storm Response

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2011 —The United Illuminating Company, electric subsidiary of UIL Holdings Corporation (NYSE: UIL), today announced results of an independent survey of its residential customers regarding the response to Tropical Storm Irene.

The survey was conducted through a national research organization, The Center for Research based in Meriden, Conn. The results, based on telephone interviews from a random sampling of UI’s residential customers, represent a margin for error of +/-5.0 percent at a 95 percent confidence level.

Among the highlights of the survey’s results:

General overview:

• When asked how prepared they were to be out of power for multiple days,

       86 percent reported to be either “very prepared” or “somewhat prepared.”

• Of those surveyed, 62 percent reported losing power during the storm.

• Of those surveyed, the duration of customer outages were reported as follows:

o   Less than 12 hours (22 percent)

o   12 hours to 1 day (7 percent)

o   1 to 2 days (16 percent)

o   3 to 4 days (28 percent)

o   5 or more days (26 percent)

On restoration:

• 86 percent of those interviewed either “strongly agreed” or “somewhat agreed” that regardless of the time it took to restore power, UI worked very hard to restore power as soon as possible.
• Considering the fact that power outages were the result of a Tropical Storm, nearly 72 percent suggested the restoration period was either “very reasonable” or “somewhat reasonable.”

• 75 percent reported to be either “very satisfied” or “somewhat satisfied” with UI’s handling of customers throughout Irene.
• Among those reporting dissatisfaction with UI’s handling of customers throughout Irene, respondents suggested these top three reasons why:
  •  39 percent would have liked power back quicker/immediately/took too long.
  • 23 percent found difficulty in getting through/poor communication.
  • 11 percent would have liked more specific estimates/more frequent estimates/unable to get an estimate.

On information and communication:

• When asked about their preference for outage restoration times, nearly half of all respondents surveyed preferred “real time” estimates, while another 35 percent reported a preference for UI to provide a larger window of time up-front which incorporates unforeseen delays and issues.                                                     

• When asked to look back at how UI handled the issues caused by Irene, respondents provided the following top suggestions for what UI could have done better to serve its customers:

o   Nothing/no suggestions (42 percent)

o   Communicate better/more often (10 percent)

o   UI performed well considering the storm/did best they could (8 percent)

o   More help/bigger crews/more staff (5 percent)

o   More accurate time estimates/more frequent estimates (5 percent)

o   Cut trees back more year round/prior to storm (5 percent)

“Results of the survey indicate that customers understood the severity of this storm.  Many of our customers were prepared for a multiple-day outage and they were satisfied with our restoration efforts,” said James P. Torgerson, chief executive officer of UIL Holdings. “There is always room for improvement and we remain committed to improving our communication with towns and cities and provision of restoration time information.”

On Monday, Torgerson announced the company plans to spend $10 million to $15 million over the next two to three years to improve UI’s communication systems and provide more restoration time data to customers during outages.