NStar Fights $9.7 Million Fine for Irene Storm Response

A year to the day after Hurricane Irene knocked out power to much of Plymouth for nearly two weeks, NStar is challenging a $10 million fine proposed by Attorney General Martha Coakley for what she called "inadequate" responses to Irene and last October's blizzard, both of which left hundreds of thousands of customers without power. Irene left several Plymouth neighborhoods without power for nearly two weeks.

Coakley’s office made the recommendation in a brief filed Aug. 7 with the Department of Public Utilities, which has the authority to impose the fine.

Coakley said NSTAR failed to identify the projected severity of both storms; failed to communicate effectively with customers and municipalities and failed to respond to public safety calls about downed wires.

If granted, the fines cannot be passed on to customers, but must be borne by shareholder. 

NStar disputed Coakley’s allegations, and said it was in full compliance with state-approved response plans.

"We disagree with the Attorney General’s recommendation given the physical challenges of rebuilding and restoring the electric system following a natural disaster," said Werner Schweiger, President of NSTAR Electric. "The Attorney General is alleging performance violations based on standards that do not exist. We’re hopeful that the DPU will make its final decision based on established standards and actual performance."

Irene caused unprecedented damage to NStar's system and electric systems.

Although service outages are always difficult for customers to endure, NSTAR Electric customers fared better than others in Massachusetts and throughout New England because the company invests heavily in maintaining the distribution system to a high level of performance.

Earlier this month, Gov. Deval Patrick signed a storm response law that issues new requirements on public utility companies on the way they handle major storms.

One of the provisions would issue fines to the utility that would help fund the state's Department of Utilities storm investigations.

The law requires public utility companies to staff call centers during major storms, coordinate with the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency when implementing an emergency response plan, it requires companies to pay an assessment charge-which cannot be passed onto customers- to help fund the state's Department of Public Utilities storm investigations.

Senate President Therese Murray, D-Plymouth, took the public utilities to task last September, after the company took more than a week to repair downed lines across her district and across Eastern Massachusetts, leaving more than 250,000 customers in the dark. Without knowing when utility crews would arrive, police and fire departments had to look after downed wires for hours, adding to overtime costs and slowing response times for other emergencies.