Updates on Eversource following Tropical Storm Isaias

I want to share with residents some updates regarding our contact with Eversource about efforts to make roads safe and to restore power. The situation is not good and you have every right to be angry with the way our power company has mismanaged this disaster.

While the vast majority of BL&P customers have had power restored, Eversource reports that 53% of their Lebanon customers remain without power. From my conversations with Lebanon residents and our emergency management team, I believe this number undersells the true scale of the remaining outage. We know a number of residents whose outages do not display in Eversource's system.

Since Tuesday evening, not only have a majority of Eversource's Lebanon customers been without power, but many residents have been essentially trapped in their homes and neighborhoods by downed trees and wires. Nearly 72 hours later, many are still in the same situation. While restoring power to residents is important, nothing is more important than making sure our roads are safe. Emergency crews need to be able to reach people. We have opened up cooling centers and offered water and showers to those without power, but those things are useless to the residents trapped by Eversource's downed lines.

The Town Public Works crew has worked hard to clear what they can, but any site where wires are involved can ONLY be cleared by Eversource.

Some background on how this process is intended to work...our emergency team provides Eversource a list of blocked roads with a priority system. The priority is *supposed* to be "make safe." Roads where people are trapped and cut off like Kick Hill Road and Hoxie Road are the priority. I know being without electricity is difficult, but power restoration is secondary to making these sites safe.

The Town has made clear to Eversource in repeated conversations through multiple channels that these sites MUST be cleared. However, the Town has no authority to give orders to the Eversource crews operating here. We have some great partners at Eversource, but the company has not delivered. The needs of residents are being ignored.

To make matters worse, we have been told by residents living at these addresses that Eversource has denied that their addresses are in the system and instructed them to contact 911 dispatch so dispatch can report them properly. These addresses have been reported. They have been reported repeatedly. There have been arguments with Eversource representatives about the need to clear these locations days ago. We can't control what Eversource tells residents, but you deserve to know the truth about what has been happening the last three days. Your emergency management team, the Lebanon Volunteer Fire Department, Public Works, and other staff have been working constantly on these issues. It is insulting to them and their hard work for Eversource to claim they don't know what is happening. If these locations aren't in their system by now, they need to fix the system.

Driving around town today, I was appalled by the dangerous conditions Eversource has left our roads in while providing absolutely no estimates for when we can anticipate their safe reopening.

Eversource has told us that on this storm, they are prioritizing power restoration. Judging by the numbers though, they are failing on that front too. The most recent update we were provided suggested that most customers will be restored by 11:59 PM Tuesday night — a whole week after the storm. Some customers may be without power even longer.

This situation is not acceptable.

Kevin T. Cwikla
First Selectman