Town criticism overpowers NStar electric
Published on November 28th, 2001
STONEHAM, MA - The lights were on and the energy was high at the Town Hall on Monday night as Stoneham residents voiced their frustration to NStar Electric and the Department of Telecommunications and Energy (DTE) about the frequent power outages that have plagued the town for far too long.
"I had to decide whether to come here tonight or stay home and watch ‘The Weakest Link,’" said Hancock Street resident Don Hutcheson. The irony of this, he told The Independent, is that for Stoneham, "NStar is the weakest link."
The DTE is forging ahead with an investigation into the service provided to NStar Electric's residential and commercial customers in Stoneham and in other towns. Stoneham's public hearing on Monday was just one of 14 such hearings being held across the state.
DTE Commissioner Gene Sullivan explained to the audience that the purpose of the formal hearing was to establish a record for its investigation as to whether or not NStar has met its service quality threshold.
Stoneham residents did not hesitate to set that record straight as to the countless power outages that have hit the town, particularly in the past six months, as well as to NStar's customer service in general.
NStar Vice President of Electrical Operations Tim Manning acknowledged the power and service failure last summer as "unacceptable."
NStar launched its own investigation into its infrastructure and according to NStar Lead Engineer Amin Jessa, pole-by-pole inspections of Stoneham's overhead system and manhole inspections of its underground connections are completed. Tree trimming around poles and wires, along with all other corrective work is on target for a Dec. 31 completion.
Other actions NStar has taken include an upgrade in call center technology and staff to assist customers, and establishment of a protocol to track the frequency and restoration of power outages.
NStar's investigation is based on a 20-month summary of power outages throughout the town.
But Isabella Road resident Jack Mahoney, who identified himself as "a former selectman in the days when we had reliable electric service," said that summary does not accurately reflect the duration of Stoneham's problems.
"It's been three years. We've never been able to find out what the cause is," Mahoney said.
"The reasons are varied," Manning said, but he blamed the problem mainly on an electrical system lacking flexibility to handle situations such as high temperatures, storms and equipment failures.
With its focus on service, reliability and customer satisfaction, NStar's mission now, said Manning, is to regain the faith and confidence of its customers.
Assistant Attorney General Joseph Rogers said that the Attorney General's Office is in the early stages of reviewing the service quality plan NStar submitted on Oct. 29.
Selectman Chairman Tony Kennedy categorized the problems with NStar's service as business losses, billing problems, medical emergencies, and residential losses and inconvenience.
Stoneham businesses endure significant financial hardship when the power goes out. Kennedy explained how the Stoneham Theater suffered financially when it lost power on two separate occasions for the same performance and had to refund its customers twice.
While NStar has instructed its business customers to document financial losses due to power outages, Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Sharon Iovanni said some deference should be made to claims that cannot be substantiated, such as lost income when businesses are forced to close and lost wages to employees who are sent home.
With regard to billing problems, Kennedy said some customers have not been billed for six months, while other residential customers have been billed at significantly higher commercial rates.
"I want to put a face on what it means to lose a service," said Hutcheson.
Hutcheson's situation can easily turn into a medical emergency when the power fails. From a wheelchair, he spoke of his reliance on an oxygen machine to breathe, a machine which relies on electricity to work.
Hutcheson has an auxiliary tank which holds 24 hours of oxygen, but his section of Stoneham, like many others, has been hit with outages that have lasted many hours.
"I need to know how long it's going to be," he said of the duration of any power outage. In the meantime, he has endured the frequent outages with help from neighbors.
But if power goes out in the middle of the day when everyone is at work, he has no one to help him switch to his reserve tank.
"I sit as still as possible, like they do in submarines," he said, to conserve energy until help arrives.
"It's the safety issues that are paramount," agreed Marianne Gorrie, Chairman of Trustees at the Brookmeadow Condominiums on Franklin Street. "Our area goes out all the time."
Many Brookmeadow residents are elderly and when power is out, so are the elevators, and residents are forced to climb to the fourth and fifth floors.
Linda Meehan a Brookmeadow resident and nurse, informed NStar and the DTE that a growing number of people are discharged from hospitals with electrical equipment. NStar, she said, has a responsibility to track those customers.
Some of the inconvenience to residents seems benign enough, as in the aggravating flash of digital clocks upon return home after a long day, but for some, correcting that is not simple.
"Everything in my house is digital and has to be reset which is a lot of work for me," Hutcheson said.
School Committee Chairman Marie Christie told NStar that Stoneham High School students must make up a day of school in June because of a power outage that forced school to close recently.
"You can't put a dollar figure on inconvenience," Christie said.
Town Counsel and Stoneham resident William Solomon presented a more recent listing of power outages. According to Solomon, 21 power outages occurred throughout town since Sept. 4.
Solomon contends that in providing electrical service to its customers, NStar executes a contract. When NStar does not provide service, customers deserve a credit.
"This is a fundamental rule of business...This is not something NStar needs the DTE to instruct them on," Solomon said.
Solomon asked that NStar make its policies clear to both residents and businesses with regard to making claims for losses.
NStar's residential claim forms were available Monday night and will also be available at the Town Clerk's office.
While the DTE may impose penalties against NStar depending on the outcome of its investigation, many residents want this in the form of credits on their bills.
"We should get a ... rebate because we're the ones who suffer and not the state," said Selectman Darin Leahy.
Selectman Cosmo Ciccarello has received "thousands of phone calls" from residents about outages and said a recent Boston Globe article referred to possible reimbursement by NStar to its Boston customers.
"If Boston is going to get a refund, I think the town of Stoneham should get a refund," Ciccarello said.
Carlida Road resident Charles Ciano wants more than that.
"At this point, I would like the Commissioner to take $50,000 ... and give it to Reading Municipal Light to look into servicing us. You people have failed us miserably," Ciano said.
Selectman Mary Pecoraro said follow-up discussion of the electrical problem will be on the next Board of Selectman meeting agenda.
"I will be fully prepared to help look into other providers," she said.
Although Hutcheson admits to feelings of frustration and fear, particularly of possible outages during the coming winter, he maintains a sense of humor.
When power went out for two minutes recently and translated into three days of trying to get his computer back on line, Hutcheson spent a lot of time on the phone with NStar, on hold.
"I asked them, 'If I die while I'm on hold, will my heirs inherit my queue?'" he joked.
Commissioner Sullivan said another hearing on the matter will be held on Jan. 17, 2002.
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