Background
There was an ice storm in the Fitchburg area on Thursday, December 11, 2008. Contrary to some reports of a “storm of the century,” the ice storm was typical of what New England residents expect in the wintertime. In New England, we generally have a couple ice storms and two or three northeaster snow storms each winter. We also generally encounter floods in the springtime, numerous lightning storms in the summertime, and even an occasional tornado.
Unitil
The electric company servicing Fitchburg is Unitil, with a claimed address of 285 John Fitch Highway, in Fitchburg. They closed this facility a year ago. There is nobody there. They apparently maintain their signs and their mailing address to fraudulently represent a presence in the region they are supposed to serve. The so-called customer service number si
mply plays a recording. Unitil has abandoned Fitchburg. There is nobody responsible. I have been to the Mayor's office and she has been lied to by Unitil with claims that power was restored when, in fact, no such restoration had occurred. Pipes were freezing, permanent damage has been done, and residents abandoned their property and jobs, moving to get out of the cold. During the 12-day power outage, numerous customers went to the advertised location of their utility company after recognizing that there were unable to contact Unitil by telephone. They were greeted with an empty building and a sign on the door, a photograph of which is presented to the right. These customers had been bamboozled into thinking that their utility company had a local presence when, in fact, the company was simply renting the building to others.A major problem exists because Unitil simply collects money from utility customers and doesn't maintain any local presence or competence in Fitchburg. Any damage to the infrastructure is simply jobbed-out to
contractors while, in fact, a utility company is required to maintain its facilities in a high state of readiness for the kinds of problems to be expected in the area served. Certainly New England is expected to have an occasional ice storm, flood, and even an occasional hurricane. The refusal of Unitil to respond to the current ice storm's requirements of immediate restoration of power is criminal and I expect some management to go to jail, in particular because they represented a presence in Fitchburg when, in fact, there was none. Here is a letter from Unitil's chairman. Unitil is so careless that there are numerous misspellings in his letter to the stockholders. That should make you wonder!On condition maintenance
The maintenance model that Unitil uses is called “on condition.” It works this way; suppose there is an automobile accident that damages a utility pole. Once a power outage is reported, Unitil hires a contractor to repair the damage. Imagine what happens if there are numerous power outages because of tree branches falling on wires. That is what happened in Fitchburg during the recent ice-storm. One needs permanent staff to maintain an electrical distribution plant the size of Fitchburg. Employees should have been working throughout the year trimming tree branches, replacing worn out equipment, straightening and sometimes replacing utility poles, and thereby maintaining the distribution system. Running a utility company is much more than purchasing power from the grid and billing customers at an immense profit. But Unitil is a “holding company.” It exists solely to maximize the return on investment for its stockholders. Their customers’ be damned.
Lack of maintenance
The reason why the recent ice storm caused such widespread power outages within the Unitil service area is because there has been essentially no maintenance to the electrical
system. As the photograph at the right shows, wires are often running through trees. Once those trees accumulate ice, they will short out the wires. Heavier accumulations will bring those wires down as the branches bend or even break. A real utility company would not let their distribution system devolve to such a state. They would have full-time crews which trim back vegetation to prevent interference with power transmission.Fitchburg property
I own a condominium on Columbus Street in Fitchburg. This is not my primary residence. I purchased it so I would have a low maintenance home when I retire. It is occupied by a friend who pays no rent, but keeps it maintained and pays for utilities. When the storm
hit it was expected that the power would be restored within a day, possibly two. In fact, it was eleven days without power. Food rotted in the refrigerator as the internal temperature climbed to the initial 50 degree inside apartment temperature. Then, as the inside temperature declined towards the outside temperature of well below freezing, the pipes froze and I had to drain my water heater. Each day I traveled over 100 miles to and from the condominium to prepare for the continuing doom, this, in addition to my duties attendant to a full-time job. My tenant stayed at my house because he had nowhere else to go. It was over fifty miles from Fitchburg.Class action lawsuits
There is talk about a class action lawsuit. I am strongly against that because only the lawyers get paid in such an action. I can tell you from experience, having been a plaintiff in a class action lawsuit in the past. I got absolutely nothing and the lawyers made millions. Instead, I think every person who suffered financial harm should file a claim in Small Claims Court. That will maximize the hurt that Unitil suffers as it must answer each of the roughly ten-thousand such suits individually. In Massachusetts, such a filing is for damages of $2,000 or less. The cost is about $30.00 and there is a form one fills out at the local courthouse. Remember that you need to have the exact name and address of Unitil.
Unitil
6 Liberty Lane West
Hampton, NH 03842
Don’t use the phony address in Fitchburg.
