Foxborough Officials Praise Response To Power Outage

FOXBOROUGH, MA — Compared to the storms of 2011 and 2012, the response from National Grid to Friday’s outages in Foxborough was day and night.

Town Manager Bill Keegan said said about 90 percent of the power 48 hours after a nor’easter that put nearly 94 percent of the town in the dark. He attributed the high blackout rate to 70-80 mph winds which caused a lot of trees to fall.

The outage update came as a response to resident George Ellison, who asked during citizens comments what the town was doing to address perceived problems with the electric grid.

Keegan said the town’s grid is in the seventh year of a 10-year upgrade.

“The system that you see right now has been improved significantly. The response was actually quite remarkable,” Keegan said.

Ellison asked about the prospect of a municipal light department because of their reputation of being more reliable, but Selectman Jim DeVellis said the cost and years long permitting process makes the investment difficult to justify.

The idea was popular in past years when the town struggled with days long outages following major storms.

While often known for swift repairs, local electric departments had their fair share of problems. In Mansfield, 3,100 homes were in the dark over the weekend. Taunton also had some issues, according to Keegan.

The town isn’t out of the woods yet. Another storm is expected to hit Foxborough Wednesday afternoon, although snow projections have been on the decline. The most recent forecast from the National Weather Service has Foxborough receiving 4-6 inches of snow, although the town is in the area the NWS has the lowest confidence for expected snowfall due to the rain/snow line.

That could mean a mix of rain and snow for the area. Keegan said a wet snow and heavy wind are the biggest concerns right now because the recent repairs to the power grid are only repairs and not full replacements.

Image: File Photo