National Grid is ready to respond to any power outages that may occur as a
result of the high winds, heavy rain, and even some heavy wet snow from a nor’easter that will affect Massachusetts and Rhode Island today and overnight tonight, the company stated in a press release issued on Wednesday.
It added that "more than 500 National Grid and supplemental line and tree crews are available and ready to respond quickly to any storm-related outages, along with more than 200 'wires-down' personnel.
With the first snowflakes headed our way, and off the heels of yet another power-knocking storm two weeks ago by the name of Sandy, Northborough residents are concerned with the response of the town's utility company.
Selectman Leslie Rutan expressed concern on behalf of the residents at Monday's board meeting.
"I did get a lot of calls, emails and comments about National Grid," said Rutan. "Compared to last year it [response to Hurricane Sandy] was a shorter period of time. But people seem to think it's us remaining without power. People seem to be miffed about being last."
National Grid has been under the microscope since its handling of Tropical Storm Irene, which knocked out power for most of the town for days, last year.
In July, attorney General Martha Coakley's office fined National Grid with a $16 million fine because of its handling, or mishandling, of the tropical storm Irene in August and the snowstorm last October, according to the Worcester Business Journal.
During Hurricane Sandy, Northborough Patch asked National Grid if Northborough's power was indeed more slowly restored compared to surrounding towns.
Debbie Drew, spokesperson for National Grid, said "that doesn't appear to be the case," adding that restoration times are directly related to the nature of the weather and the destruction of the town's electrical system. With Sandy, said Drew, National Grid had trouble with the transmission lines that feed into Northborough, which affected a large chunk of customers.
Town Administrator John Coderre said Sandy was "poised to be a non-event" to Northborough, and that National Grid's preventative work in cutting down limbs and trees in town made a huge difference. The town, in fact, spent $400,000 in last year's fiscal budget to have the trees trimmed.
Relatively unscathed, Coderre said a substation at Hudson and Allen streets took a substantial hit from a pine tree that knocked a main line out, putting neighborhoods in the black.
Coderre said he was happy with National Grid's response, but discussed better communication in the future. While power was restored fairly quickly, Coderre said the issue lies in residents being unclear as to how long power will be out.
"It went down really fast but came back pretty fast," said Coderre. "A vast majority got their power back quickly. I don't think communication can ever be good enough, though. I think National Grid's response wasn't a bad one, but I expressed my concern that the communication wasn't good enough."
Selectman Dawn Rand at Monday's meeting also questioned the possibility of changing utility companies for the town, perhaps instituting a town-owned company such as SELCO in Shrewsbury.
"Well, you would have had to have made that decision by around 1920," said Coderre.