Sen. Hedlund Holds Utilities Accountable for Emergency Response

Senator Robert Hedlund (R-Weymouth) announced last week that state Senate passed a bill to address emergency service companies in Massachusetts.

To address the customer service complaints of constituents, Sen. Hedlund secured passage of an amendment that requires utility companies to provide customers with twice-daily updated estimates on when service will be restored to their area following a 24-hour damage assessment period. This information must be available from customer service representatives and displayed prominently on the main page of the utility’s website.

This comes as a result of the widespread power outages in communities across the state during and the snowstorm in October just before Halloween when residents were left with out power for days.

“During the last snowstorm the people of our district were left without power for days, and their utility companies were virtually unreachable,” Hedlund said. “In the rare instances when residents could get through on the phone, the customer service was deplorable. Residents couldn’t get any information on when their services would be restored, which is simply unacceptable.”

Senator Hedlund also filed an amendment to the bill that would install a three month moratorium on all approvals of utility mergers, given the existing concern over the pace of the approval given by the Patrick Administration for the NSTAR/Cape Wind merger.

The moratorium would provide the Department of Public Utilities three months to complete any outstanding regulatory investigations, procedures and reviews involving storm response by the department, as well as allow constituents of the Commonwealth the opportunity to fully understand the benefits and ramifications of such mergers before an agreement would go into effect. Unfortunately, the amendment failed on a roll call vote of 7-29.

The bill also requires public utility companies to set up call centers during major storms, which must be located in Massachusetts and adequately staffed to handle increases in calls. Utilities must report storm outages to the state and designate a community liaison in each community when implementing an emergency response plan. Utilities must also designate staff at the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency to help coordinate statewide response.

Additionally, utilities will pay an assessment charge to help the Department of Public Utilities pay for storm investigations. The cost of this assessment cannot be passed on to customers. The bill also ensures that any penalties assessed on utilities for violation of emergency preparation and response will be credited to customers.   

Finally, to further ensure that public utility companies in Massachusetts improve their response to cities and towns during a storm, the bill extends the possibility of receivership to all utilities in the case of gross negligence. Currently, only Unitil is subject to receivership.

The bill now goes to the House of Representatives for approval.

-The office of State Senator Robert Hedlund.