Yesterday, the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) issued a grant ordering Eversource to respond to a joint request by Ridgefield and Newtown asking for an investigation into their response to restoration following Storm Isaias.
PURA issued the following orders:
1. Eversource’s appropriate incident commander or municipal liaison shall, within six hours of this ruling, communicate with each of Ridgefield’s and Newtown’s Office of Emergency Management including, but not limited to, speaking directly with the Town’s Emergency Management Director. This communication shall identify the additional resources to be made available for storm response in each respective town and provide detailed estimates for the remaining power restoration efforts in the respective town.
2. Eversource shall coordinate with the officials of Ridgefield and Newtown to identify areas within the Towns where the health and safety risk to residents is amplified by the power outage, and Eversource all prioritize power restoration efforts in these areas, as consistent with Eversource’s approved Emergency Restoration Plan (ERP).
“PURA is statutorily charged with regulating the rates and services of Connecticut's investor owned electricity, natural gas, water and telecommunication companies and is the franchising authority for the state's cable television companies. In the industries that are still wholly regulated, PURA balances the public’s right to safe, adequate and reliable utility service at reasonable rates with the provider’s right to a reasonable return on its investment. PURA also keeps watch over competitive utility services to promote equity among the competitors while customers reap the price and quality benefits of competition and are protected from unfair business practices.” According to PURA website: https://portal.ct.gov/pura