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A report released Thursday said downed trees rather than transmission problems were largely to blame for massive power outages during Winter Storm Alfred last October. The report released by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and North American Electric Reliability Corp. said 74 transmission lines and 44 transmission substations experienced outages during Winter Storm Alfred, and that resulted in less than 5 percent of the outages during the peak of the storm. Most of the outages, according to the report, lasted no fewer than two days and lasted no longer than five days. The remainder of the outages, which was roughly...

Connecticut Light & Power's plan to cut some 100 trees on Owens Brook Boulevard is drawing fierce protest from some residents. Town officials said they've got a half-dozen letters and calls from residents opposed to the utility company's plan because it would change the look and feel of the boulevard. CL&P targeted the trees as part of its newly installed tree-trimming program aimed at preventing wide-spread power outages like the one during the freak October snow storm, which toppled trees and left thousands of its customers in the dark for up to 10 days. ... "Well the town has asked...

Majority Democrats in the state Senate announced a multi-tiered initiative Wednesday to better safeguard electric service and to hold Connecticut's utilities accountable through new performance standards and penalties. The proposal includes a $300 million state investment over the next decade to create "microgrids" -- sections of community centers with extra safeguards to ensure electric service remains available for grocery stores, gasoline stations and other vital service providers during large-scale outages. "It is imperative that Connecticut's utility companies be prepared for the next storm so that our residents' health and safety are not needlessly put at risk and that (utilities) are...

Connecticut Light & Power's president and CEO, Jeff Butler is resigning, Northeast Utilities has confirmed. Northeast Utilities' Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Charles W. Shivery, said Thursday the utility company has accepted Butler's resignation, effective immediately. Butler came under fire from his handling of the massive power outages during a freak October snow storm that left more than 800,000 CL&P customers without power, some for as long as 12 days. Noreen Cameron of West Hartford said one of the worst mistakes CL&P made was saying 99 percent of their customers would have their power back on the Sunday following...

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said he does not feel there will be push back from Connecticut Light & Power as lawmakers look to implement changes to prevent long power outages in the future. “I think they are a greatly humbled entity and, rightly so, and I would expect a willingness to embrace best practices that are brought to their attention and I would expect they would invest in those best practices. If they fail to do so, they do so at their own risk,” Malloy said at a press conference Tuesday afternoon. CL&P has been making progress on restoring power...

The Asylum Hair Salon, in Canton, has filed a lawsuit against Connecticut Light & Power for losses suffered during the power outage. Attorney Edward Jazlowiecki said the salon is the only plaintiff, however if other plaintiffs who suffered losses emerge, the suit can be prosecuted as a class action suit. The salon's suit was filed in Hartford Superior Court on Friday.

Connecticut Light & Power wrestled outages down to the 12 percent level by Saturday night, restoring power to tens of thousands of people but still leaving about a dozen towns from Farmington to Union mostly cold and dark. And in his bleakest forecast yet, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said CL&P would have to substantially speed up its work pace to make its self-imposed deadline of delivering power to 99 percent of its customers before midnight Sunday. "I've been skeptical and I'm becoming increasingly skeptical by the hour," Malloy said at a Saturday evening press conference. The governor directed CL&P to...

Power outages associated with Winter Storm Alfred are skyrocketing. Connecticut Light & Power reported more than 288,000 customers without power at 5:30 p.m., with those in the central and southwestern part of the state being hit the hardest. ... Officials at United illuminating said more than 9,000 customers were in the dark in its service area, which covers the area surrounding Bridgeport The state Department of Transportation said that power outages along the New Haven line of Metro North is affecting service. Trains are now running hourly.

Union representing electric and phone utility repair crews charged Monday that profit-driven cutbacks significantly hampered the response to Tropical Storm Irene in the week following the Aug. 27-28 tempest. And as state legislators concluded their two-part hearing on the Irene response, they also heard a wide array of ideas for improving Connecticut's readiness for future storms, including a launching statewide assault on invasive vine species to hiring retired local repairmen to help out-of-state emergency crews find their way. "Money is clearly a motivator," Frank Cirillo, business manager for Local 420 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, told a panel...

Sen. Richard Blumenthal sent a letter to Jeffery Butler, president and COO of Connecticut Light & Power on Friday urging the company to use whatever means necessary to restore power to the remaining customers left in the dark after Tropical Storm Irene. "As I traveled the state this week meeting with state officials, first responders, mayors, residents and small business owners, I've heard loud and clear the concern that your company did not do enough to prepare or respond, and is not doing enough work now to restore power. I share these concerns. Among the most common complaints are your...

On the color-coded power outage map on Connecticut Light & Power's website, southeastern Connecticut Tuesday night was mostly purple and black, the colors representing areas where 61 percent to 100 percent of customers were without electricity. ... In Ledyard, resident Kim Prescott said she was alarmed to see cars drive under wires with large trees hanging precariously on them on busy Route 117. ... "For 800 trucks being out, it seems like you should at least see a few here and there," Prescott said. Prescott said she's driven around her town and others the past few days and sees the...

<p>The number of power outages in Connecticut keeps climbing, affecting more than 700,000 utility customers.</p> <p>Connecticut Light & Power, a unit of Northeast Utilities System and the state's largest utility, says Tropical Storm Irene knocked out power to about 621,000 customers as of 3:30 p.m. Sunday. That's about half of its customers.</p>

More than 700,000 customers remained in the dark Monday morning after Tropical Storm Irene swept through the state. Officials at Connecticut Light & Power said crews will work around the clock until restoration efforts are complete. During what will likely be a multi-day restoration effort, nearly 75 percent of crews will begin their shift at 7 a.m. to utilize daylight hours. The remaining 25 percent will begin at 3 p.m. and will work through the night. All CL&P employees are also required to take an eight-hour rest period between shifts to ensure safety. "Having a vast majority of crews work...

The power companies are already dealing with thousands of outages as Irene moves toward Connecticut Sunday. The storm has been downgraded to a tropical storm, but the impact is being felt by more than half a million people who have no power. More than 531,000 Connecticut Light & Power customers were in the dark early Sunday morning. Winds are too high in some areas for CL&P crews to respond. Connecticut has some of the most heavily-wooded areas in the region, and one of the most wooded power service areas in the country, according to CL&P.Crews will not be able to...

www.gunowners.orgJun 2006 Rep. Stockman Helping GOA Start Gun Clubs On Campus -- Do you know someone who can help win the hearts and minds of the next generation? Gun Owners of America 8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102 Springfield, VA 22151 (703)321-8585 Tuesday, June 20, 2006 Do you know someone who is pro-gun, who likes working with college age kids, and who is in need of a full-time job in the fall? Well if so, former Rep. Steve Stockman (R) has a deal for him. Stockman is the Director of the Campus Leadership Program (CLP) in northern Virginia. The CLP is...

(New York-WABC, November 26, 2003) — Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are vowing to find out why the military is issuing a gun lubricant that many soldiers claim causes their weapons to jam, and endangers their lives. It's a problem Eyewitness News first told you about last week. The Investigators' Jim Hoffer broke the story and joins us now with more on what is being done to fix the problem. One lawmaker is calling for public hearings after seeing our investigation, and a U.S. senator is demanding answers from the Pentagon. They want to know why, as we first reported, soldiers...

(New York-WABC, November 18, 2003) — In a four-month investigation that reaches from the sands of Iraq to the halls of the Pentagon, we found that weapons given to tens of thousands of U.S. soldiers may not work in the desert. All because of a defective product. And it could be putting American troops at risk. The Investigators' Jim Hoffer is here with his findings. The key to surviving any war is to have a weapon that works. To that end a good, reliable gun lubricant is critical. But our investigation has found that a lubricant supplied by the military...