Massachusetts Gov. threatens utilities with fines

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Grassroots Information Coordination Center (GICC) : One Thread

Massachusetts Gov. threatens utilities with fines

Thursday, August 23, 2001 03:51 PM ET

BOSTON, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Massachusetts Gov. Jane Swift on Thursday ordered an investigation of the state's utility companies and vowed fines would be levied if regulators find rampant power outages this summer could have been avoided.

Swift announced her plans after meeting with regulators and utility company executives on the heels of power outages that have plagued the Boston area and several other communities. The state's Department of Telecommunications and Energy will investigate and hold public hearings throughout Massachusetts, Swift said.

Starting Nov. 1, the state can fine utilities up to 2 percent of their revenue for not meeting service quality index guidelines. The Boston Globe has reported that Boston alone has suffered more than 500,000 customer-hours of blackouts since July 12, or the equivalent of every household in the city losing power for two hours.

"If in fact the investigation (regulators) will perform warrants, the penalties would be imposed based on the failures and the disruption of service that happened this summer," Swift said at a news conference.

One notable and prolonged outage came at the hands of NStar , the state's largest investor-owned electric and gas utility, which left at least 30,000 customers without power during a heat wave in early August that saw temperatures approach 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius). Some customers went without electricity for more than two days.

Nstar apologized for the outages in full-page ads in Boston's two daily newspapers and said it would spend $165 million over the next three years to improve service reliability. The company also said it would pay customers for damages they may have suffered from things such as spoiled food.

The company blamed the outages on overheated equipment under strain from the hot temperatures and a manhole fire that raged near a busy substation.

But Swift said she did not hold the meeting to hear excuses.

"There were certainly a number of factors that led to the outages this year, but we always are going to have warm weather, we always are going to have unanticipated weather occurrences and the job of the system is to make sure its safe and reliable," Swift said.

When asked if he had any problem with the fines being threatened, NStar President Russell D. Wright replied: "I have no problem with that."

http://rd.business.com/index.asp?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ebusiness%2Ecom%2Fdirectory%2Fenergy%5Fand%5Fenvironment%2Felectric%5Fpower%5Futilities%2Fnews%2Ffull%5Fstory%2Findex%2Easp%3Fuuid%3DE9D6133E%2DC8E9%2D49D6%2D861B%2D193BF3C7FE1F%26source%3DReuters&z=i.m.news.i&r=15&to=860B0715-BCAC-11D4-90FF-00805FA7885A&from=775B6B3F-9E29-11D4-90FB-00805FA7885A&plid=&xr=&pcg=82281537-981B-11D5-88F1-00508BE128BB

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), August 23, 2001


Moderation questions? read the FAQ