Jul 29 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Matt Murphy The Sun, Lowell, Mass.


The state Senate is poised to pass a bill that would expose public utility companies to multimillion-dollar fines for failing to respond to power outages in a storm or emergency in a timely fashion.

The legislation applies to all utility companies in Massachusetts, but is a direct response Unitil Corp.'s handling of a severe ice storm in North Central Massachusetts last December that left some customers without power for up to two weeks.

The Senate delayed action on the bill yesterday to allow for a Republican amendment to be printed in the journal for consideration. But it plans to take a vote this afternoon.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Jennifer Flanagan, D-Leominster, lifts the state's $1 million cap on fines against utility companies that violate their own emergency response plans and fail to live up to standards for customer service, outages, billing and public safety.

Instead, fines can total up to $25,000 a day per violation.

The bill, however, diverges from a similar measure passed last month in the House of Representatives that would have allowed the state to temporarily take over underperforming utilities.

The House bill, put forth by Rep. Stephen DiNatale, D-Fitchburg, called for the Department of Public Utilities to conduct an audit of a utility that serves more than 100,000 customers if that company fails to restore power in a "timely" manner.

If the audit found management at fault, the bill allows for the company

to be placed into receivership for up to 120 days to improve performance and potentially restructure management.

"I hope they keep the teeth in this bill, which is the ability for the state to take over," DiNatale said yesterday.

Senate leaders explained that the DPU resisted the "receivership" clause because it is not equipped or prepared to start taking over and managing private companies.

The provision has been dropped from the Senate bill.

DiNatale, however, said he understood concerns that the audit would take too much time to complete, and backs the provision that would allow the state to intervene immediately during an emergency.

The Senate legislation would give the governor and DPU expanded authority to step in to restore power in cases of emergency by issuing response orders or tapping other companies to assist in restoration efforts.

"That would be OK," DiNatale said. "This bill is going to go to conference committee, and we still have some work to do."

Sen. Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester, is also looking to amend the Senate bill by creating a $5 million cap on fines against utility companies. The House bill had an identical $5 million cap, but the Senate version lifts the cap.

All utilities will be required to submit emergency-response plans to the state annually by May 15, including protocols for accessing mutual aid in case of emergencies. Unitil was criticized for its performance in the ice storm, in part, because it was unprepared and inexperienced in seeking mutual aid.

Failure to submit plans on time carry a penalty of $500 a day.

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