State to review utilities' response to December ice storm

Massachusetts officials opened an investigation yesterday into utility companies' response to last month's ice storm that left about 1 million people in New England without power, some for nearly two weeks.

The Department of Public Utilities, at the directive of Governor Deval Patrick, is reviewing efforts of the state's four electric utilities to prepare for the Dec. 11-12 storm, and to restore power afterward.

"We are going to focus on every aspect of the companies' performance," said the department's chairman, Paul Hibbard.

The four utilities - Unitil, NStar Electric, National Grid, and the Western Massachusetts Electric Co. - have until Feb. 6 to file a report detailing their storm response and emergency restoration plans, communication with customers and municipal officials during outages, damage and performance assessment, and proposed modifications.

"After a large crisis mobilization effort, it is entirely prudent and called for," said Geoff Woollacott, a selectman in Ashby who lost power in his home for more than 10 days. "Obviously there's a lot of emotion involved in this case, so it's good to assess what went right, what went wrong, but we do need to remember that this was a hundred-year storm."

Ashby was scheduled to hold a selectmen's meeting last night at which residents were invited to voice their concerns.

Members of the public may contribute to the investigation during a hearing on Jan. 27 at Memorial High School in Fitchburg. The Department of Public Utilities is also planning to hold a public hearing in Lunenburg.

A final report will be made available to the public on the department's website.