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Northeast Utilities Establishes Outage Compensation Fund

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The parent company of Connecticut Light & Power says it will establish a ten million dollar fund to compensate residential customers who lost money as a result of the recent power outages. WNPR’s Harriet Jones reports.

Announcing the fund, Northeast Utilities CEO Charles Shivery apologized to utility customers saying the company did not meet the goals it set for itself for restoration after the freak October snowstorm, and he understands the hardship this caused to customers. The ten million dollar fund will be handed over to Governor Malloy, and NU spokeswoman Marie van Luling stressed the company will not be in charge of how it is distributed.

“The governor will decide who should administer it. That administrator will decide how the fund will operate, what the parameters would be for recovery and what the process would be for people to apply for that recovery.”

In addition, CL&P will waive late payment fees for customers until the end of the year, and will arrange flexible payment programs for anyone who suffered disruption. The company says it will provide free help to municipalities with ongoing clean-up and tree trimming efforts. Steve Werbner is town manager in Tolland. He says the fund is a welcome first step, but he believes it won’t go far enough.

“I know a number of residents in our community are having large expenses associated with the clean-ups of their individual properties, and in addition we as a municipality are well into six figures and possibly seven figures before we get done with our ultimate clean-up costs.”

Northeast Utilities has not included businesses in this fund, many of which suffered losses that won’t be covered by insurance. The National Federation of Independent Business in Connecticut has already called on the company to extend the relief fund.

For WNPR, I'm Harriet Jones.

Harriet Jones is Managing Editor for Connecticut Public Radio, overseeing the coverage of daily stories from our busy newsroom.

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