Eversource officials miscalculated restoration efforts following Tropical Storm Isaias, which moved across the state on August 4. For eight days — and still counting in some locations — during a pandemic and a heat wave, hundreds of thousands of Connecticut residents were left without electricity in its wake.

Locally, 78 percent of Newtown was without power Wednesday, August 5, the morning after the storm.

The utility promised Newtown would be “substantially restored” — which the utility describes as less than 1 percent of a community without power, including individual customers where additional on-site work is required — by noon Tuesday, August 11. The utility failed.

Instead of 1 percent, it was 10.14 percent of the town still without power at 5 pm on August 11. The number was down to approximately 7 percent by 7 pm — still not at the goal — when First Selectman Dan Rosenthal shared that evening’s CodeRED message.

As of 3 pm Thursday, August 13, more than 700 residents (6+ percent) in Newtown were still without power.

Rosenthal kept in touch with residents with his recorded messages nightly, August 5-11. He and the town emergency management team met at least once daily, and residents were provided updates via the recorded messaging system each evening.

On August 8, Rosenthal said he was “frustrated” by Eversource management’s new approach, which restricted the community liaison from “the ‘war room’ where they plan and allocate resources.” The new format led to “misinformation” being given to Rosenthal, he said.

Rosenthal’s voice was encouraging during the first few messages, but grew increasingly curt as restoration efforts went on.

“I am as upset with all this as you are and there will come a time when this is over to demand a full review and seek accountability,” he said Saturday evening.

By August 11, he said that “it probably comes as no surprise, the noon restoration deadline came and went with too many of our residents without power.”

Outage figures were at single digits, he said, adding “I realize if you are without power the figure may as well be 100 percent.”

While he expected the town would be substantially restored during the overnight hours “with the exception of single outages that may take longer,” he vowed to “continue to insist that Eversource finish the job for you.”

This storm came just shy of eight years since Tropical Storm Irene, which left many residents and businesses without electricity for over a week. After Superstorm Sandy in late October 2012, which again left Newtown in the dark for days, Eversource vowed to supplement its system and storm responses.

Governor Ned Lamont this week challenged those promises, questioning the “hundreds of millions of dollars” reportedly spent by the utility to toughen its system against storms.

Curbside Debris Pickup Announced

Residents were challenged for days, trying to navigate roads fully or partially blocked. Public Works crews continued to devote their days to cleaning up roads, clearing trees once utility crews confirmed that any nearby wires were not energized.

The Town of Newtown has announced that curbside storm debris pickup and removal of storm generated debris will happen sometime on or after August 17.

Only trees, limbs, and similar storm debris from the August 4 event is FEMA-reimbursable. The town hopes to complete the pickup of storm debris within a three-week period.

Property owners are to place all August 4 debris within ten feet of a curb/roadside, not extending into the roadway. Intersections and driveway site lines may not be impaired by piles of debris.

As a matter of safety for both residents and crews who will be doing this work, residents must keep at least 75 feet away from all crews and equipment. Injuries may be caused by flying debris or distraction.

Eversource Statements

Eversource regularly offered updates on restoration progress.

Eversource President of Regional Electric Operations Craig Hallstrom on Monday said the company knew how urgently customers need their power restored, “... and we are making significant progress.

“Our crews and the thousands of out-of-state crews working alongside them have done a tremendous job under difficult conditions — working in the heat while abiding by social distancing and pandemic safety protocols...”

Eversource did note, that in the process of restoring power, some customers may lose power “as a necessary step for crews to safely make needed repairs to restore service to many more customers.”

Crews made complex repairs and, in some cases, rebuilt entire portions of the electric system, which can be time intensive, the company stated in a press release.

Line crews from out-of-state companies eventually poured into town. Many were still visible by midweek, working to clear roads and reconnect lines.

While pleased to see those crews working, Sandy Hook native George Lockwood, Sr, wondered on August 12 why so many of the trucks were still staging as 8 o’clock approached that morning.

“I keep seeing them behind [the Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire & Rescue’s main firehouse], and at Blue Colony, just waiting for their orders,” he said.

He was grateful, he said, that power had been restored to his home the day before, but angry that it took that long.

“I finally called Dan Rosenthal yesterday,” he said. “I didn’t want to bother him last week. I knew he’d be busy. But we have a medical machine in our house that needs electricity to run, and it finally stopped working.

“Ten minutes after I talked to him a crew showed up,” Lockwood continued. “They changed one fuse and suddenly my house and those around me had electricity again.

“Fifteen minutes of work,” he said. “Eight days later. That’s just ridiculous.”

Blumenthal Wants Eversource CEO Resignation

It is difficult to say how many people in Connecticut were affected by the storm.

According to Eversource's own announcements, the total number of statewide customers affected by the August 4 storm changed almost daily. The peak number has ranged from 630,000 to 935,000.

In an August 5 e-mail, the utility stated crews had restored power by 10 am that day “to more than 100,000 customers since the storm began yesterday. Approximately 617,000 Eversource customers in Connecticut remained without power” at that time, representing a combined total of 717,000 customers.

The combined total August 6 was 839,000 customers. The following day it was 935,000 customers affected. On August 11, the utility’s e-mail update stated “Peak outages from Isaias — which occurred on Wednesday, August 5, 2020 at 3:30 pm — impacted 632,632 customers.”

In addition those changing numbers, the utility repeatedly pointed out that the damage from Isaias was greater than Superstorm Sandy in October 2012.

US Senator Richard Blumenthal is having none of it. Following a meeting Monday afternoon with Eversource CEO James Judge, Blumenthal called for Judge’s resignation and the removal of the utility’s leadership team, among other measures.

“I insisted to James Judge that he must make refunds to customers, and avoid any rate increase or charge for restoring power,” the senator said in a statement. “He declined to commit to such action.

“In addition to money back to consumers and businesses for their losses, I also told him that there must be leadership changes, including his resignation. Connecticut residents and businesses suffered severe financial harm because of Eversource’s failure to prepare for this storm, and they should be made whole.

“I will continue to fight for consumer rebates, removal of Eversource’s senior leadership team, and a complete evaluation of the company’s abjectly poor performance including possible restructuring of the company. In the midst of a pandemic, as I have traveled across the state, I have seen and heard how this unacceptable epic failure has deepened the hardship and heartbreak of households and businesses.

“This company must be held accountable. This must never happen again.”

On Wednesday, Blumenthal tweeted “All over CT, constituents have expressed justified frustration with Eversource’s prodigious lack of preparedness & communication. 8 days after the storm & there are still significant outages.”

A short time later another tweet from the senator called for FEMA to “step up to the plate.

“We ought to have a declaration of disaster relief from the federal government so recovery assistance can be given to towns across our state who have suffered hundreds of thousands of dollars in expenses.”

Dan Rosenthal echoed those sentiments in his August 11 CodeRED.

“As we begin to put this behind us, now the real work begins,” he said. “I told Governor Lamont the other day that more than transportation, reliable power is critical to living and doing business in our state. Until now, the bar has been set ridiculously low and weeklong power outages have become acceptable.

“I am not okay with this anymore than you are. Elected officials and regulators have let this slide by, this has to change... Power outages will happen but they don’t need to be eternal.”

An Essential Service

Within 24 hours of the storm, local officials announced cooling centers, most with charging stations for electronic devices. Dumpsters for food disposal were set up at Botsford, Dodgingtown, and Sandy Hook’s fire stations, and potable water was available at Botsford, Hook & Ladder, and Sandy Hook’s fire stations. Newtown High School was open for residents who needed showers.

Last weekend, PJ’s Laundromat was doing a very brisk business. The town’s only laundromat, PJ’s never lost power.

“We take care of the laundry for the utility guys, so we’re getting an influx from them too,” Doherty said.

Outside the laundromat Sunday afternoon, Patty and Anthony Prestera were among those waiting for a few open machines. The Sandy Hook residents were lucky, finding a bench in the shade just outside the laundromat’s door. Both took it in stride when told they would need to wait to get their laundry started.

“What are we going to do?” Mr Prestera said. “It’s hot at home. The air isn’t moving inside the house. We’re not in a rush.”

Nodding across the parking lot toward Cover Two Sports Café, which was also busy Sunday afternoon, he said the restaurant would be the next stop once the couple started their laundry.

“We’ll probably head over there, grab a few beers and some lunch,” he said. “Can’t do anything about the power, so it’s not worth getting upset over. Might as well make the best of it.”