Connecticut must lead the nation in reworking the mutual aid system relied on by utilities in distress — such as Berlin-based Connecticut Light & Power following the Oct. 29 snowstorm — according to the state’s top energy official.
Other regional and national companies can help in establishing a transparent, effective and immediate way to work together in emergencies. But with the week-long power outage top of mind, Connecticut is well positioned to take the lead.
The mutual aid system was insufficient before and after the October snowstorm, said Dan Esty, commissioner of the state Department of Energy & Environmental Protection, in testimony last week to the Two Storm Panel reviewing Connecticut’s disaster readiness.
“Connecticut’s utilities need to lead an effort to restructure regional mutual aid compacts with greater transparency and reporting,” Esty testified, “so that all in the region know exactly who is going where and when during a disaster event, particularly when that event affects the entire region.”
Since 1955, utilities from around the country have slowly scaled back their full-time employment of repair crews in favor of regional mutual aid systems, where all the companies in one region agree to send their crews to help each other during massive power outages. The increasing reliance on this system has saved utility costs and depressed electric rates.
However, the mutual aid system is informal, disjointed and regional. Out of concern for their own readiness, utilities are reluctant to release their crews in advance or immediately after a large regional threat — such as the October nor’easter or Tropical Storm Irene in August. States such as Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey impose rules limiting their utility crews to in-state operations.
The lack of pre-staging restoration crews in October was a key reason CL&P took 11 days to restore power to the 809,097 ratepayers who lost electricity, according to an independent report by Washington, D.C.-based Witt Associates commissioned by Gov. Dannel Malloy.
It wasn’t until the third day of the power outage that CL&P had more than 1,000 repair crews working on the restoration. The number of crews didn’t top 2,000 until day six.
CL&P only was able to nearly fully restore power by Nov. 9 — almost two weeks after the initial outage — because the utility brought in contract and mutual aid crews from all over the country, the Witt report said. By the end of the outage, CL&P had more than 2,900 restoration crews deployed.
Although help eventually can come from utilities in the far-flung regions of the country, utilities first are members of local mutual aid systems. CL&P and New Haven-based United Illuminating are members of Northeast Mutual Assistance Group, and CL&P is a member of a second organization, the New York Mutual Assistance Group.
In advance of the storm, CL&P requested a significant amount of mutual aid crews through its two organizations, but nearly all of these requests were denied or delayed because the other utilities in the system were worried about their own preparation and response.
Utilities also can request national assistance through the national industry group Edison Electric Institute, although response to national requests is less timely due to geographic barriers and the large number of requests sent out from all the potentially impacted utilities.
Utilities also reach out to private contract crews throughout the nation who respond to massive outages.
United Illuminating, which was largely praised by the Witt report for its storm prep and response, brought in all the contractors it could in advance of the storm, spokesman Michael West said. Many were from Florida.
Because regional and national mutual aid does not have one central clearinghouse — the system is more informal cooperation among utility companies — it is very difficult for state and local officials, as well as the utilities themselves, to know exactly how much help is coming and when, Esty said.
Transparency and accurate reporting of outside utility assistance is paramount as Connecticut’s utilities work to revamp the system, Esty said.
However, the state government must spur the utilities to make these changes, Esty said. Unlike the private sector, where market forces drive adaptation and innovation, regulators play a decisive role in determining incentives and standards for electric utilities.
Connecticut’s Public Utilities Regulatory Authority is performing its own investigation into the prep and response to Irene and the nor’easter, with the mutual aid system and utilities’ full-time employment of restoration crews as key components of that investigation, said PURA spokesman Dennis Schain.
“You are always going to need mutual aid,” Schain said. “You will have to gear up for major events.”
The idea of reverting partially or wholly to the pre-1955 model of having large-scale, full-time employment of utility repair crews isn’t likely, as increased staffing would raise utilities’ costs and therefore put upward pressure on electric rates.
“If we are going to have employees on standby to be ready for the next storm that may not come for a week or 10 years, I’m OK with that; but there is a cost to that,” said State Sen. John Fonfara (D-Hartford), the co-chair of the General Assembly’s Energy & Technology Committee.
Connecticut has the fourth highest electric rates in the nation, and the state has committed to bringing that rate down. Lowering electric rates means relying on cost-cutting measures such as the mutual aid system.
“There are consequences to this obsession with having to lower rates,” Fonfara said. “Sometimes that means the power goes out for a week.”
The key then is improving these systems that the state utilities rely on, such as mutual aid.
Esty said CL&P and United Illuminating need to examine their work practices as well. To expand the reach of their trained lineman, the utilities could explore options such as pairing trained lineman with local electricians or retired lineman, or better use firefighters and public works employees.
CL&P spokesman Mitch Gross said the company won’t discuss any potential changes in the way it operates or addresses the mutual aid system until all the government, independent and internal utility reviews of the storm prep and response are complete.
“Everything is under review,” Gross said.
