Frustrated Greater Danbury officials prepare to ‘storm’ power company [News-TImes]

Article as it appeared in the Danbury News-Times on August 30, 2011
Public officials in Greater Danbury are getting increasingly frustrated with the slow pace of restoration of power to their communities and are preparing to “storm” Northeast Utilities.

Ridgefield First Selectman Rudy Marconi called for a meeting of all town officials in the area with NU to find out why it is taking so long to restore electricity.

Eighty-five percent of Ridgefield remains without power, as of Tuesday morning, from the effects of Tropical Storm Irene on Sunday.

State Sen. Michael McLachlan, R-24th, called the power company’s response “abysmal” in a letter he wrote to the president of Connecticut Light & Power Tuesday.

“As of this morning, I have seen very little service response from Connecticut Light & Power in the towns making up Western Connecticut, especially Danbury, New Fairfield, Sherman and the Stony Hill neighborhood of Bethel,” McLachlan wrote.

“Such a response, or rather the lack thereof, is completely unaccepable to the people who pay to utilize your services.”

New Fairfield First Selectman John Hodge said “the numbers don’t add up.”
“I would like to see a breakdown of how they deployed their crews,” Hodge said.
“If all communities are being treated equally then they are doing the best that they can but there is a lingering feeling that some areas are being treated differently,” Hodge said. “I was told last night that they have put much of their resources in eastern CT because many towns are 100% without power.

“Well, we are 70% without power so where does that put us?”