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32 ConneCtiCut Green Guide • Summer 2014 www.CtGreenGuide.com editorial Remember Storm's Lessons D espite an April snowstorm, another Connecticut cold season has passed without a major power outage, putting the long, widespread disasters from 2011 further in the rearview mirror. As the repercussions of Tropical Storm Irene and the October 2011 nor'easter fade away, it appears the private sector has remembered its lessons while state government slowly forgets them. Much maligned in 2011, Con- necticut Light & Power has gotten its act together and kept it that way. After being called deficient and inadequate in its response to the nor'easter — resulting in the resigna- tion of its president — CL&P remade its emergency operations and team. The result has been quick restoration in outages to the point where the utility sends crews out of its territory to help with others' recovery efforts. This makeover undoubtedly comes as CL&P hopes to avoid paying a penalty for that 2011 storm re- sponse. The Public Utilities Regulatory Authority said CL&P will be assessed a fine in this year's upcoming rate case but gave the utility the option to avoid punishment if it could prove its storm response drastically improved. Many Connecticut officials still are calling for CL&P's head — Attor- ney General George Jepsen said the penalty should approach $150 mil- lion — but CL&P should be applaud- ed for its improvement, regardless of its motivations. The pain caused by that 2011 response shouldn't be forgotten, but a more fair penalty should fall between $20-$30 million. While CL&P works to make everyone forget the past, PURA and state legislators seem to be working to make sure the past is repeated. Predictably, immediately after the 2011 storms, state investigators blamed falling trees and branches for most of the outages; and CL&P took the brunt of the public outcry for supposedly falling behind on its tree trimming duties. So, predictably, PURA and the state legislature told CL&P and New Haven electric utility United Illuminating to step up their efforts. Now, predictably, residents who are seeing their beloved trees cut down are crying out against CL&P for stepping up their efforts. So, predictably, with 2011 firmly in the rearview mirror, PURA has asked CL&P and UI to stop enhanced tree trimming until better rules are made. Meanwhile, the legislature approved a bill making it much harder for utilities to trim trees by forcing them to prove why each tree needs to be cut down. Next time a storm hits the state and trees knock out power to more than half of utility customers and clog up recovery efforts, the funny part won't be how regulators, leg- islators, and the public will blame CL&P for the problems. The funny part will be how predictable the whole thing was. A maintenance crew from Norwich Public Utilities works on a distribution line in the town's service territory. The Connecticut General Assembly forwarded legislation making it harder for utilities to keep foliage clear of power lines. Photo | hbJ File Opinion