State utility regulators have blocked planned layoffs at Southern Connecticut Gas Co. and Connecticut Natural Gas Corp.
The Department of Public Utility Control, following a two-hour hearing today, ordered a temporary stay of any layoffs at both companies and suspended the hearing until a future date, likely in about two weeks.
Regulators said the scarcity of details and the vague responses to written and verbal questions about planned downsizing at both companies made it impossible to determine if the proposed layoffs will place public safety in jeopardy.
Regulators said it is urging the gas companies to be prepared at the next hearing to answer the questions the agency has provided to them.
Both companies are subsidiaries of Energy East Corp., which is owned by Spain-based Iberdrola S.A. (AP)
