The Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority on Thursday launched another investigation into Connecticut Light & Power, probing whether the Berlin-based utility subverted previous inquiries.
The new investigation is a response to a filing by Attorney General George Jepsen on April 9 saying CL&P withheld key documents during PURA’s initial inquiry into the utility’s response to the 2011 storms.
The documents, which CL&P later provided to Jepsen’s office, show key executives and employees in the field disagreed with CL&P’s publicly announced deadline of Nov. 6 to restore power to 99 percent of the more than 800,000 customers who lost electricity during the October snowstorm.
CL&P missed that deadline and had 99 percent restoration on Nov. 8.
When Jepsen filed his initial complaint on April 9, CL&P officials said they disagreed with his assertion that they purposely withheld documents to subvert the PURA investigation. The company plans to respond to his allegations during the regulatory process.
The original PURA investigation of the 2011 storm response found CL&P was deficient in preparation and reaction to the October snowstorm and Tropical Storm Irene from that August. PURA recommend CL&P be assessed a penalty by not being allowed to recovery a portion of its storm costs on ratepayer bills.
CL&P has asked for $414 million in storm recovery costs in 2011 and 2012, including $246 million from Irene and the October snowstorm. Those costs would be added to bills starting Dec. 1, 2014.
In saying that CL&P subverted the original storm investigation, Jepsen recommended the utility pay an additional penalty, although he did not specific an amount.
