Congressional delegation, except Rep. John Larson, call for probe of CL&P’s storm response

Six of the seven-member Connecticut Congressional Delegation today asked federal regulators to investigate Connecticut Light & Power Co.’s response to the October 29 storm, which nearly a week later keeps hundreds of thousands of residents in the dark.

They wrote a letter tor Jon Wellinghoff, chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, to probe whether CL&P and its Northeast Utilities parent company violated the Energy Policy Act of 2005 by restoring power to other northeast states more quickly than in Connecticut.

“We are also deeply troubled by the reliability of the electric system in Connecticut, as this is the second major power disruption in the last two months. It has also come to our attention that utility customers in the State of Connecticut waited longer than any other state to have their power restored,” the letter says. “As a result, we request that you investigate Connecticut Light & Power and Northeast Utilities for any potential violations of Section 215 of the Federal Power Act.”

Rep. John Larson, D-1, whose office said he has visited throughout his district all week, issued the following statement supporting his reticence to sign on with his congressional colleagues:

“My primary focus right now is to make sure everyone in CT gets power as soon as possible and to ensure that the right entities are coordinating to get my constituents power and heat especially before this cold weekend.  There will be ample time after power restoration and recovery efforts are complete to examine what went wrong when the power went out. At the appropriate time I plan to support a full investigation, that looks at the entire process- from the federal agencies coordination all the way down to the performance and preparation of CL&P.  Connecticut has been slammed by Irene, Lee and now this freak October snowstorm. We must look at all levels of government participation and figure out how to better respond so that residents will never have to wait a week to get power back up and running . I support the spirit of the call for investigation and intend to do my part to look at what went wrong here and how to fix it as to ensure the response is faster and better coordinated next time, but right now, my objective and efforts are focused on getting the lights back on.”