Local officials call National Grid’s response to October storm ‘inadequate’

Feb. 14--NORTH ANDOVER -- Only three people -- two public officials and one North Andover resident -- spoke at a poorly attended public hearing held by the state agency investigating National Grid's response to a late October windstorm that knocked out power to thousands of residents for several days; but those who did speak expressed levels of frustration and disappointment that were felt en masse during the outages several months prior.

The Tuesday night hearing lasted less than an hour and was attended by only about 20 people, about half of whom were National Grid representatives. Three employees of the state's Department of Public Utilities led the meeting, which was held to gather the public's input on the effects of the storm while the state considers National Grid's response.

The DPU announced last month that it had opened a formal investigation into the utility company for its response to the storm that blasted the region between Oct. 29 and 30, including how the company prepared, its restoration efforts, its communications with affected communities, and whether or not the company complied with state rules and regulations and its own Emergency Response Plan.

Depending on the results of the investigation, the state may levy fines against National Grid and order changes to the company's restoration procedures.

Boxford Town Administrator Alan Benson, who was among the local officials who contacted the state seeking a review of National Grid, said Tuesday that the storm "exposed a specifically regional need for improvement in the Merrimack Valley region for National Grid electric."

"It is important for the department to note that the aftermath of this New England-wide storm portrayed an odd concentration of damage in National Grid's Merrimack Valley municipalities not seen elsewhere in the Commonwealth and not seen in the local municipal electrics within the Merrimack Valley," Benson said. He later noted that over 100,000 of the 268,000 National Grid customers left without power statewide were in the Valley, though the highest recorded wind gusts that the company reported were not in the Valley, but on the coast.

"To us, this indicates there is a need for substantial increase in National Grid's proactive tree work, equipment upgrades and investment in these ... communities," Benson said.

Clearly agitated, Benson also went on to detail delayed responses from the company in clearing the town's 23 blocked roadways, which caused significant delays as emergency responders were forced to take detours around major town arteries. Firefighters' response time to a residential fire after the storm was delayed by blocked roadways, Benson said.

He played three audio recordings for the DPU officials, each of a phone call made from a town official to National Grid during the storm and its aftermath. Each call demonstrated a town official requesting assistance from National Grid, and the company's representatives delivering vague, unhelpful answers.

Deborah Lebl, a National Grid employee, spoke at the hearing as a private citizen of North Andover, and said she was "extremely disappointed" in her employer's estimated time of restoration. She and her husband booked a hotel for themselves and their 3-year-old and 9-month-old children Monday night through Thursday, in accordance with the restoration estimate they were given; but power was restored to their home by Tuesday afternoon.

"When you're planning for a multi-day outage and then suddenly your power just comes back on, that is almost as much of a hardship as having a multi-day outage," said Lebl, who spent hundreds of dollars on the unnecessary hotel stay. "I feel as though National Grid is very, very, very disconnected from the customer experience with the outages and they need to do something to improve their assessment of when power will be restored for their customers."

Deputy Andover Town Manager John Mangiaratti also spoke briefly, noting that 30 percent of the community was without power a full three days after the storm.

"The biggest issue that I want to raise is that we recognize preparations for a storm like this have different considerations, but we feel the preparations by National Grid for this particular storm were inadequate," Mangiaratti said.

National Grid's Dan Bunszell, vice president of National Grid's New England Electric Operations, defended the company's response, noting that the damage its infrastructure sustained was greater than that sustained during the February 2013 snowstorm, Hurricane Sandy and Tropical Storm Irene.

Bunszell said that since the October storm, National Grid has applied a "zone approach" to storm responses in the valley, which involves pre-deploying resources to pre-designated areas. He also said the company is looking for ways to improve its Estimated Times of Restoration and how to communicate more effectively with communities and customers.

In a statement following the hearing, National Grid spokeswoman Christine Mulligan said that "we know there are areas where we can improve. We are committed to working with municipal officials to do so, as we know that is key to providing the level of service they expect and deserve."

Another public hearing will be held at the McCarthy Middle School in Chelmsford at 7 p.m. on Thursday. Input can also be submitted to the DPU in writing no later than 5 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 15.

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