Category Archives: Utilities

The DPU has opened an investigation into the responses of National Grid, NSTAR Electric Company, and Westem Massachusetts Electric Company to the October 29, 2011 snowstorm. The following hearings have already been scheduled to hear from the public about National Grid’s and NSTAR’s response to Tropical Storm Irene. We will take public comment in those hearings about those Companies’ response to BOTH Tropical Storm Irene AND the October snowstorm. Here are the times and locations of those hearings.

National Grid
Tuesday, Nov. 29, 7 p.m.
Trottier Middle School, 49 ParkervilJe Road, Southborough (rescheduled from
November 1, 2011)
Thursday, Dec. 1, 7 p.m.
Attleboro High School, 100 Rathbun Drive, Attleboro (rescheduled from
November 3, 2011) . .

NSTAR
Wednesday, Nov. 16,7 p.m.
Walsh Middle School, 301 Brook Street, Auditorium, Framingham
The DPU is in the process of scheduling additional public hearings in areas affected by the October snowstorm. The DPU will announce the times and locations of these hearings soon.
Investigation by the Department of Public Utilities into the Preparation and Response of
NSTAR to Tropical Storm Irene, D.P.U. 11-85-B .
THE PURPOSE OF TIDS PUBLIC HEARING
The purpose oftbis hearing is to provide you with an opportunity to co=ent on your experiences
related to your electric service both during and after Tropical Stonnlrene. Your testimony will
assist the Department of Public Utilities (”DPU”) in assessing NSTAR’s preparation for and
response to the storm, and will become part of the official record of the investigation. The purpose
of this hearing is to collect co=ents of public officials and members of the public in the affected
service territory; it is not to request infonnation or co=ent from either the Company or the DPU.
TESTIFYlNG TONIGHT
The DPU will call members of the public to testify in the order that they sign-in on the “sign-in
sheet.” State and local elected officials and local public safety officials may be allowed to testify
first. . Each person is asked to keep his or her co=ents brief and to the point so that we may
acco=odate every person wishing to testify tonight. If you have written co=ents, you may
summarize them in your testimony and submit your complete remarks to the Hearing Officer.
Please direct all your remarks to the DPU for the record in our investigation, and refrain from
directing comments or questions to NSTAR. The DPU will use your co=ents and suggestions
when questioning NSTAR during the next phase of the investigation
If you cannot or choose not to testify tonight, you may still submit written co=ents to the DPU.
Please mail your co=ents to Mark D. Marini, Secretary, Department of Public Utilities, One
South Station, 5th Floor, Boston, Massachusetts 02110; and send a copy bye-mail attachment to
dpu.efiJing@state.ma.us and to the Hearing Officer atJennifer.M.Murphy@state.ma.us.
AFTER THE PUBLIC HEARING: WHAT COMES NEXT .
The next step in the DPU’s investigation is referred to as the “adjudicatory phase.” The
adjudicatory phase includes evidentiary hearings· at the DPU’s office in Boston, where witnesses,
primarily from the Company, will testify and be subject to cross-examination by the DPU and other
FAX: (617)345·9101
http://www.mass.gov/dpn
parties, including the Attorney General. By law, the Attorney General represents the interests of .
residential ratepayers in the Commonwealth. The DPU issued a notice of intervention on
.. October 12, 2011, with directions on hbwto petition the Department to become a party to the
proceeding. The deadline for filing a petition to intervene is November 23, 2011. Although
members of the public may attend the evidentiary hearings, only parties to the proceeding may
participate. After the conclusion of the adjudicatory phase, the DPU will issue an Order based on
. our review of record evidence, including the written and verbal testimony provided tonight, as well
as information and data collected during the adjudicatory phase.
ACCESSING DOCUMENTS RELATED TO THIS INVESTIGATION
Documents that are filed as part of the investigation will be available on the DPU’s website at
http://www.mass.gov/dpu. You may access the documents by choosing “File Room” under “Key
Resources;” select “Dockets” and enter the docket number for this proceeding “11-85-B.” Paper
copies of documents are available from the DPU, with a charge per page for copying, by contacting
Secretary Marini at the above address or at 617-305-3500. We encourage you to obtain docket
materials on-line because of the volume and length of the documents.
Also available on the D PD’s website are the relevant statutes, regulations .and Orders. This
proceeding is governed by G.L. c. 164, §§ 1J and 85B, and the DPU’s regulations, 220 C.M.R.
§ 19.00 et ~ which you may access by choosing “Statutes and Regulations” under “Key
Resources” on the DPU’s website. In addition, the Order establishing guidelines for the emergency
response plans (“ERPs”) for electric companies, Final ERP Guidelines, D.P.U. 10-02-A (April 20,
2010), is available in the File Room by entering “10-02” as described above.
Transcripts of this public hearing and the evidentiary hearings are available for public view at the
DPU’s offices during business hours; copies may be ordered from the stenographer:
Farmer Arsenault Brock LLC, 617.728.4404, http://www.fabreporters.com
If you have questions regarding this proceeding, please contact the Hearing Officer, Jennifer M.
Murphy at 617-305-3696 or at Jennifer.M.Murphy@.state.ma.us.

Banker & Tradesman published an article today title Digging For Truth On Why We Can’t Bury Power Lines.  The article notes studies have said that underground lines mean 35% fewer outages, that Massachusetts municipal utilities generally seem to have fewer outages, and points to the muni in Concord burying lines each year, and now being up to 40%.  From the article –

“A few municipal utility companies, including Concord’s, have begun to put their local power lines underground – taking away, in one fell swoop, the danger of massive outages after snow, ice and wind storms. “The key is you don’t have these massive outages because the network is protected,” said Patrick Mehr of the Massachusetts Alliance for Municipal Electric Choice.

No Big Dig

OK, it’s great that the good folks in upscale Concord can spring for this, but what about the rest of us?

Well yes, it’s an extra cost, but hardly a crazy one – about $600,000 to put a mile of lines underground each year. Even so, Concord residents still pay 40 percent less on their electric bills than neighboring towns that get their power from big utility companies, according to Mehr.

And this is far from a crazy idea – in fact, New England and our country as a whole is a backwater when it comes to power delivery, with many European companies having put much of their electric grids underground.

No one is advocating another massive Big Dig, this time to bury all the region’s power lines. But Concord has hardly done it overnight – it is slowly but steadily doing it on a decades-long timeline, with 40 percent of the town’s power lines now running underground.

Interestingly, the idea invoked a less than enthusiastic response from a spokesman for National Grid, one of the state’s trio of big power companies. He cited the expense of putting lines underground, while also noting that if there are problems, it’s much more difficult to fix, since you have to dig up the lines to make repairs.

Still, he acknowledged an industry study that found a 35 percent decrease in outages when lines were put underground.”