Dive Summary:
- Several northeastern states are still trying to untangle the complications associated with dividing the costs of damage caused by tropical storm Irene between ratepayers and utilities.
- Connecticut faces the most complex issue as Connecticut Light & Power (CLP), the state’s largest utility, lost power in two consecutive storms; ratepayers in the state will likely have to pay for repairs to polls and wires, but setting rates for these repairs is a long legal process away from resolution.
- In most cases, including CLP and New Jersey’s Jersey Central Power & Light, the utilities were found to be deficient in their handling of the outages and subsequent repairs.
From the article:
A year after Tropical Storm Irene knocked out power to millions across the Northeast, utilities and regulators are still sparring over how to divide repair and restoration costs between ratepayers and utilities.
With memories of spoiled food, cold showers and meals in the dark still fresh in customers’ minds, state regulators are under pressure to limit reimbursements to utilities that submitted requests for rate increases totaling tens of millions of dollars. ...
