After 'Snowtober,' Shaheen Calls For Utility Review

After an extremely unusual October snowstorm to parts of New Hampshire for days, a group of U.S. senators wants an official review of the country's utility standards.

The bipartisan group of senators, including New Hampshire's Jeanne Shaheen, D-Madbury, said prolonged power outages like the one in October pose a public safety threat and can cause economic losses. They are trying to organize a hearing that they said can improve utilities' response to such events.

The "Snowtober" storm cut power to more than 2 million customers in New England, including about 315,000 in New Hampshire. The storm to nearly all of Exeter. It took Unitil about three days to get power for most Exeter customers.

“Power outages can have significant consequences, even life-threatening ones when they come during the brutal cold of winter," Shaheen said in a statement. "Our electric grid reliability standards are designed to protect the welfare of the American people and the American economy, and it’s time that we review their effectiveness and adequacy.”

Shaheen and other senators wrote a letter to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee asking it to organize a hearing.

The full text of the letter is below:

We write on behalf of the millions of New England consumers who depend on a reliable electric power system for their safety, economic stability, and quality of life.

Our concern stems from recent storms and the appearance of a regional downward trend in electric reliability.  As you may know, a New England snowstorm last month left more than two million utility customers without power, including 315,000 in New Hampshire, 830,000 in Connecticut, and 672,000 in Massachusetts.  In New Hampshire alone, the storm caused the loss of 91 main circuits and three 115 kv lines for Public Service of New Hampshire, the largest number in the company’s history.  In Connecticut, the storm caused the outage of 29 115 kv lines and three 345 kv lines.  In addition to last month’s snowstorm, hundreds of thousands of customers have been without power in our states at various points over the past two years following extreme weather events such as Hurricane Irene.

These electric outages, some lasting as long as a week for some customers, have real consequences.  In our northern states, a lack of power for home heating can become life threatening during winter months.  Downed power lines can threaten public safety.  Furthermore, businesses across the region are unexpectedly forced to close their doors.  As you may know, a study by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory estimates that the national cost of power interruptions is about $80 billion annually.  We cannot afford unplanned and prolonged business closures in a time of economic recovery.

One issue brought to light in the most recent snowstorm was the inadequacy of utility Mutual Assistance Groups (MAGs).  MAG programs exist to support utilities in contracting for additional line and repair crews when in-house manpower proves insufficient in the wake of a major outage.  They are important as a network of regional utility-to-utility cooperatives to deliver the necessary crews in the aftermath of significant storms. In the most recent storm experienced by our states, shortcomings on the part of the MAG system contributed to the unusually slow pace of recovery in several of the hardest hit states.  In the face of another disaster of this scale, we are concerned that the MAG system may prove similarly deficient in ensuring that our constituents receive needed assistance to clear roads, repair distribution networks, and repower transmission equipment.

The health and welfare of the American people and the needs of our economy demand a reliable electric power system. To that end, we respectfully ask that the Committee hold an oversight hearing to review the adequacy of our nation’s reliability standards as soon as possible. We think it is timely and prudent to determine the effectiveness of these standards in protecting consumers and businesses so that we can begin the process of improving electric reliability in our communities.

We stand ready to work with the Committee to address an issue of great importance to improving the safety, economy, and quality of life of the region that we represent.  Thank you for your consideration of our request.

Sincerely,

• Jeanne Shaheen, United States Senator
• Richard Blumenthal, United States Senator
• John Kerry, United States Senator
• Scott Brown, United States Senator