Free Republic

Attorney General Martha Coakley is seeking $4 million penalty from the Western Massachusetts Electric Company, saying the utility failed to adequately communicate with residents and municipal officials or secure proper staffing levels during the October 2011 snow storm. In a press release, Coakley is recommending that the state Department of Public Utilities issue the $4 million penalty. In a legal brief filed Tuesday, Coakley said that the electric company failed to meet three separate standards of its plan for responding to storms. “The October 2011 snow storm left thousands of Western Massachusetts customers without power for as many as 12...

Although frustrated after going days without power, speakers at a public hearing arranged by the state Department of Public Utilities had mostly words of praise for Western Massachusetts Electric Company. ... Greenfield joined a chorus of voices questioning the power companies, particularly Western Massachusetts electric companies, for their handling of the crisis. An estimated 2 million customers, including 672,000 in Massachusetts, lost power for some period of time following the storm. Some were without heat and electricity for more than a week. ... "The attorney general's office wants answers as to why WMECO's restoration effort took as long as if...

A visibly frustrated Domenic J. Sarno on Tuesday blasted Western Massachusetts Electric Co. for what he called a lackluster effort to restore electricity in the region’s largest city and for projections that could leave several thousands of city residents without electricity or heat for a week or more. Sarno, at a press briefing in City Hall, voiced frustration and anger at the restoration effort since Saturday night, and with the latest WMECO projections that power will not be fully restored in the city until Friday or Saturday. “I’m very frustrated with their performance. This is unacceptable,” Sarno said. “I’m told...