Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Owning the lights will save the town approximately $75,000 a year, DPW Director says.
Easton selectmen officially signed paperwork last week to purchase nearly 1,500 street lights from National Grid. The $24,000 purchase, which was approved by Town Meeting voters in November, will eventually save the town an average of $75,000 a year, Department of Public Works Director David Field told selectmen. Eliminating fees and charges to National Grid and taking on maintenance with town-hired contractors will be a huge savings, he said. National Grid will still be the energy provider. "Right now, we pay about $112,000 in what’s called “facilities charges,” Field said. "When we buy these lights, those facilities charges go away. There are still about $7 or $8,000 dollars for some underground lights which we’re not purchasing at this…
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
National Grid was fined nearly $19 million, the highest fine levied against utilities in Massachusetts.
The state on Tuesday ordered a total of $24.8 million in penalties to utility companies for their response to storms in 2011. Massachusetts Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rick Sullivan joined Department of Public Utilities (DPU) Chairman Ann Berwick and DPU commissioners today to announce the findings of the DPU’s investigation into responses to Tropical Storm Irene and the October 2011 snowstorm. Provided the penalties hold up, customers should see a reduction in their bill, though it is unclear how much, officials said. National Grid faces the steepest penalty, at $18.725 million. NSTAR has been ordered to pay $4.075 million, while the Western Massachusetts Electric Company faces a $2 million penalty. National Grid told the …
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
National Grid said it is ready to go with more than 500 crews in the event of power outages from Wednesday night's Nor'Easter.
National Grid, the electric utility that had hundreds of thousands of customers without power in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, said it is ready for Wednesday night’s Nor’Easter. The latest storm first moved in on Wednesday morning and is expected to last into Thursday with high winds, heavy rain and some heavy wet snow to the west and north. National Grid said it is ready to respond to any power outages that may occur as a result of the weather. There are more than 500 line and tree crews available and ready to respond to any storm-related outages, plus more than 200 “wires-down” personnel. That includes both National Grid crews and those from other companies that are assisting National Grid. The storm has also activated the company’s…
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Just about every Easton resident had power restored by Thursday afternoon, according to National Grid.
Three days after Hurricane Sandy swept through Easton, National Grid is reporting that less than five customers in Easton are still without power. In all of Bristol County, 858 customers were without power as of Thursday afternoon. The utility company said in a news release that it expects to have all power restored in the state by midnight Thursday night. “We’re grateful to our local and state officials, with whom we worked before, during and after the storm to restore our customers as quickly and safely as possible,” said Marcy Reed, president, National Grid Massachusetts. “Every storm offers an opportunity for us to do better. While we do believe we improved our performance since last fall’s storms, we will continue to work in …
National Grid officials said that the majority of those without power, which is at three-percent of all customers, should get it back by midnight tonight.
National Grid crews are out restoring power to those that are still in the dark after Hurricane Sandy and said that nearly all customers should have power by midnight tonight. In a teleconference this afternoon, National Grid president Marcy Reed said that crews have been out restoring power to customers across the northeast for over 48 hours since beginning on Tuesday morning at 6 a.m., when the power company decided it was safe to begin working. Reed said that, as of 3 p.m. Thursday, power has been restored to 97 percent of National Grid customers. Roughly 5,600 customers are still without power. "The lion's share of our customers [without power] will receive power by midnight tonight," said Reed. Reed said crews will most likely have a …
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
National Grid President Marcy Reed said Wednesday that the company is ahead of schedule in its effort to restore power and said the company will continue to wok out kinks with the newly-created community liaison position.
National Grid is head of schedule in its effort to restore power following widespread outages following Hurricane Sandy, according to company President Marcy Reed. Reed, speaking to reporters in a conference call from a Chelmsford parking lot Wednesday afternoon, said the company’s estimated restoration times were based on having three-quarters of its customers restored by Thursday night. “We are already there,” she said. “We are progressing ahead of schedule.” As of 2 p.m. on Wednesday, 78 percent of the 237,000 National Grid customers that were without power statewide had been restored. “We are pressing ahead as we always have been,” she said, adding she expects that a majority of the customers still without power will have it back by …
Monday, October 29, 2012
Easton Town Administrator David Colton gave a "State of the Town" Monday afternoon.
Town Administrator David Colton said Easton is working with a National Grid liaison to quickly restore power outages and the town is not expecting a response as bad as last year's Hurricane Irene response. Colton said the storm is likely to pick up late in the day Monday and more wires are expected to fall. He reiterated that emergency officials are "working around the clock." Colton urged residents to be cautions and the Easton Emergency Management team issued a statement Monday asking residents to prepare for what could be multiple hours and even days of outages.
The president of National Grid offered an update on Monday afternoon about the company's preparedness and response to Hurricane Sandy.
There are more than 1,300 electric crews on the ground in Massachusetts ready to restore power in the National Grid service area once Hurricane Sandy blows through. That’s according to Marcy Reed, president of National Grid in Massachusetts. She met with the press on Monday afternoon in a conference call for about 20 minutes where she said the company has been preparing for Hurricane Sandy since last Monday. As of mid afternoon Monday, the hardest hit areas included Quincy on the South Shore and Salem on the North Shore, she said. “Many utilities have been able to send crews and they are here,” she said. National Grid’s 16,000 employees are “all hands on deck,” from line crews to office staff, who are working to coordinate lodging for the …
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
National Grid released a statement regarding the strong wind conditions set for Easton and the rest of the area.
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Tuesday, September 18, 2012
A Statement from National Grid: As customers across New England hunker down for what is forecasted to be an extremely windy day, National Grid crews and support personnel are prepping in the event strong winds cause damage to the region’s electrical network. High wind watches and warnings have been issued for later today and overnight across the region, with predictions of strong and possibly damaging winds in many areas combined with potentially heavy rain. As a result, National Grid crews and support staff have been put on alert and are prepared to respond in the event of service interruptions. “Our first priority is always the safety of the public, our customers, and our employees,” said Kathy Lyford, National Grid vice president of …
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
One year later, here is a look back at the havoc Irene left on the Shovel Town
One year ago today, Tropical Storm Irene hit Easton residents hard. Branches fell on wires, blocked roads and shut down power for significant portions of the town for days at a time. The outages resulted in a public outcry towards National Grid, Easton's power company. Residents and many town officials were upset with National Grid's response time. A year later, National Grid released a statement informing residents of actions the company has taken since Irene hit. According to the statement, actions include: “We understand and acknowledge that many of our customers and communities were frustrated by the multi-day outages during Irene,” said Marcy Reed, president of National Grid in Massachusetts in a statement. “I want them to know that …
Julie
9:07 am on Friday, November 2, 2012
Maple rd still has no power more ›