Over the course of two meetings on August 17 and 19, the Board of Selectmen and the Legislative Council unanimously authorized the town to participate in a shared legal brief related to Eversource’s power restoration response following Tropical Storm Isaias.

That was followed late Thursday by a request from First Selectman Dan Rosenthal for residents to submit storm experiences related to dealing with Eversource to Connecticut's Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA).

Access that request letter by CLICKING HERE

The dual authorizations allow Newtown to join with New Fairfield and Ridgefield, making all three communities parties to a PURA investigation of the electrical utility. By joining with the other two neighboring communities, First Selectman Dan Rosenthal explained, the expense for retaining the law firm of Cohen & Wolf will be split evenly three ways, lessening the expense for taxpayers.

During the August 17 session, Selectman Jeff Capeci initially made a motion to add discussion of the utility’s response specific to the private Newtown Woods community. One of the primary issues at that multistory complex was the issue of utility lights inside the complex running out of battery power once electricity was cut off, leaving residents to navigate interior halls and stairs in the dark for multiple nights, Capeci said.

Rosenthal asserted that the issue of supplemental safety lighting is something he is willing to assist with between Newtown Woods residents and their homeowner’s association.

The first selectman noted that several complexes restricted to older residents were affected by the power outages, and for a handful of local Eversouce customers, those outages dragged on for more than a week. Rosenthal said among his greatest frustrations was the way in which utility liaisons handled communication as more than 9,400 local residents and businesses were left in the dark.

In the case of a pole damaged at Newtown Woods, for example, Rosenthal said he was told utility crews were poised to restore power the Sunday evening after the storm, which blew through the area Tuesday afternoon. This is the information he shared with residents.

Then the first selectman learned the problem involved a main power supply that extended into Brookfield, and that restoration would be delayed for almost another day. This update left a number of residents, who were without power by then for nearly a week, extremely frustrated.

Authorizing The Brief

This led into the motion and discussion around the PURA response investigation, and Rosenthal’s hope to get approval to join Ridgefield and New Fairfield on the legal brief and pursue Newtown’s interests in the matter.

The first selectman stressed to both his colleagues and council members that this was not a lawsuit seeking specific damages, but rather it makes a case on behalf of residents with the hopes it will spur PURA officials to mandate Eversource to change the way it prepares for and carries out power restoration after future storms.

Rosenthal said Newtown’s post-Isaias experience was very similar to Ridgefield’s in terms of numbers and extent of outages. He said he commiserated with Ridgefield First Selectman Rudy Marconi over the apparent lack of crews.

“There were periods on Sunday when we had just two or three crews in town — or working groups — they may call it three crews,” Rosenthal said, adding that he was at one point on the phone with an Eversource executive from Boston saying he was told there were 23 crews in town.

“While fines are important for non-performance, I’d think based on the forecast, if Connecticut is better than fifty percent likely to get hit, they should be required to bring in reinforcements from mutual aid states. We had 60 blocked roads a full day later and our crews can’t touch trees on lines,” the first selectman explained.

“If they had crews on the ground, you’d see progress with Make Safe [protocols], and then slowly getting the power on,” Rosenthal continued. “But they seem more beholden to stakeholders. We needed crews on the ground — we were three-and-a-half days in before the reinforcements came. I know there was damage but seven, eight, nine days to be restored. It affects state’s image.”

Rosenthal told the selectmen that Cohen & Wolf filed a brief and it was accepted by PURA, and although Newtown and its partners in the brief are not taking legal action, there will be some expense nonetheless. He expects there will be other briefs filed, so other towns are joining.

Requiring Reinforcements

“Hopefully the investigation will find Eversource wasn’t prepared or following preparedness protocols,” the first selectman said. “I hope there will be a requirement to have reinforcements in state before a storm.”

Rosenthal said he expects to testify before PURA during the investigation, and he was fast-tracking participating in the brief because “timing is of the essence if we’re going to file.”

He said that if the council concurs, Newtown will move forward. And if the investigation turns quixotic, the town can always withdraw.

“This is probably the sixth outage of significance in two-and-a-half years, and the second with days to a week without power. We have to share our experience,” he said.

Capeci agreed, saying it was well worth investigating.

“If Eversource did everything they should, they should have no fear in an investigation,” Capeci said.

Rosenthal said the Ridgefield first selectman, who has been in office almost two decades, said it was the “worst he’s ever seen. He added that a lot of anguish could have been alleviated if the utility had been honest and direct in giving municipal leaders and ratepayers a clear picture of where they stand.

“It makes a difference,” Rosenthal said. “When people don’t see progress and don’t see numbers going down — you see the anger, you see the anxiety.”