Community Corner

Steward: "My Frustration is Starting To Mount" With CL&P

Waterford First Selectman said he is getting frustrated with the power company, and said he will not reschedule Halloween.

This afternoon, First Selectman Dan Steward said he is losing his patience with Connecticut Light & Power, saying the communication with the utility company is not good and that the utility company is favoring some towns compared to others.

“My frustration is starting to mount,” Steward said. “I’m hoping to have answers by this afternoon.”

According to CL&P’s outage map, the same amount of people are without power in Waterford at 12:50 on Thursday as there was Wednesday morning. He said the utility company is fixing areas where people are complaining the most, instead of fixing all areas equally, and said it is unacceptable to have to wait until Monday to get power back to the town.

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Steward said CL&P has been fixing areas in towns where people are complaining the most or high-profile areas instead of fixing all towns at the same pace. He said CL&P spent extra time in New London Wednesday, as an example, because Gov. Dannel Malloy visited the area.

“That’s not how it should work,” Steward said. “They should be servicing us all equally.”

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Additionally, Steward said CL&P got power back to Rt. 32 so the traffic lights are working, but yet no power was restored to homes in the area. He said he couldn’t figure out how that could be and has not gotten a response from CL&P.

“That’s what I don’t understand,” Steward said. “I haven’t had an answer yet.”

He added that he really wants to get power back to Great Neck Elementary School and Quaker Hill Elementary School so the town can have school Friday. However, the two buildings remain without power.

Halloween

Steward added that he will not be rescheduling Halloween, after the police chief asked people to refrain from trick-or-treating Wednesday night. He said he is focusing on regaining power, and is not worrying about the holiday.

“I’m worried about getting power,” Steward said. “We did not cancel Halloween. We asked people not to trick-or-treat. There were parties (Wednesday) night. That was the appropriate thing to do.”

Steward said if people really want to celebrate Halloween, they should throw a party.

“They should run a party,” Steward said. “If they are so interested in running a party for Halloween, they should run one.”


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