In the past three years, Eversource’s customers have paid an average of $450 per person to replace old poles, wires and other equipment in Connecticut.
       The US$570 million in expenditure helped keep the refrigerator open during “Tropical Storm Isaias,” but for many people who were forced to replace spoiled food and endure long periods of hot weather without electricity, it didn’t help.
       After a prolonged power outage in Isaiah, many people called on utilities to better protect the shaky power grid operated by Eversource and United Illuminating. But some people have warned that this may cause customers to pay thousands of dollars in additional utility bills in the next few years, and the next time a hurricane or nor’easter throws hay at Connecticut’s ancient pine, maple, and oak trees, the lights may still go out. . And tulip tree.
       According to the company’s initial statistics, Eversource cut down more than 8,400 trees the day after Isaias, Connecticut’s power grid disrupted nearly 2,100 utility poles, and Isaias cut down more than 12,500 power distribution cables. .
       The question again for legislators and regulators is whether to spend more money through utility bills and other methods to better protect and protect the overhead lines that supply power from the Connecticut substation, or to bury more of them. In the ground to protect it from harm.
       This problem reappeared almost eight years after the destruction caused by Sandy in 2012. At the time, the state was forced to chase cash and deal with the long-term economic impact of the deadly pandemic.
       ”In such a situation-when you actually fall a tree-the system will not prevent that tree from extinguishing the lights,” Eversource’s regional president Craig Hallstrom told reporters during the restoration work last week. “That’s the point…. No matter how hard you strengthen the system, a big tree that crosses the street will tie that wire down.”
       The National Utilities Regulatory Authority plans to conduct hearings on Eversource and United Illuminating’s performance before and after Isaiah, and plans to hold a separate meeting on August 24 to examine the higher costs incurred by customers this summer.
       Regarding the upcoming storm hearing, it is expected that the Attorney General Tong Tong (William Tong) believed that the power company could have performed better.
       Tong said: “Utilities are responsible for taking this risk and managing this preparedness risk.” “You have a monopoly power that can be used to manage this risk and make it perform well, and you can’ensure’ in many ways… Responding to the storm. Sometimes you do it right, sometimes you do it wrong, but this is yourself.”
       However, whether PURA’s investigation ultimately focuses on response or infrastructure, or both, there remains a central and simple question: how much is too much money to better support the Connecticut power grid?
       A spokesperson for Eversource declined to disclose details of the company’s investment to strengthen its Connecticut power distribution system in response to threats such as falling branches. But since Sandy, Eversource and its taxpayers have invested hundreds of millions of dollars to remove trees and branches near the line and to protect substations from coastal flooding.
       Eversource said in its annual report released earlier this year that Connecticut’s power grid includes 17,000 miles of overhead lines and 6,700 miles below the street-if strung together, it can almost rotate around the earth. The utility company runs power through approximately 180 substations and more than 291,000 transformers to reach homes and businesses.
       Connecticut has more than 900,000 utility poles nationwide, owned by Eversource, United Illuminating and Frontier Communications.
       Eversource last year spent $225 million to replace the so-called “aging infrastructure” in the Connecticut power grid, which accounts for about 2.5% of the total value of Eversource’s historic Connecticut light grid. The company’s value into 2019 is $9.6 billion.
       Compared with revenue, replacement work in 2019 is equivalent to 7% of the US$3.2 billion generated by CL&P’s business; or more than half of CL&P’s 2019 operating profit of US$411 million.
       Tong said: “This sounds like not enough to me.” “There is an inherent conflict between the public service mission and their fiduciary duty to taxpayers…and their fiduciary duty to shareholders to make money.”
       Many utility companies are investing in rods made of fiberglass composites from companies such as BASF, Creative Pultrusions Intelli-Pole and Valmont. In addition to resisting weathering, deicing salt, and other threats such as burrowing insects, composite poles are two-thirds lighter than poles from pine tree trunks, making installation easier. They can be made into colors to match the surrounding trees and terrain. The pole eliminates the possibility of wood preservatives infiltrating the soil. Historically, a substance called pentachlorophenol was used approximately once every two poles nationwide, and was banned as a carcinogen a few years ago.
       But the Electric Power Research Institute pointed out in a 2018 study that composite rods have not yet proven that they can withstand the test of time, and may deteriorate faster than expected due to sunlight, heat and ice.
       Other opportunities include strengthening the accompanying hardware, such as fasteners that fasten the wires to the poles, or installing more poles to reduce the distance between any two wires, reducing the sag on the wires, and the drop straps of trees and branches Coming pressure.
       However, whether it is wood or composite materials, the pole device is an expensive proposal. A California litigation consulting company called Garrett Forensics performed mathematical calculations five years ago and replaced a pole at a cost of $3,800, including materials (including nearly $1,600 for the pole itself) and heavy equipment such as drillers and Aerial work platform.
       Eversource uses the industry standard of 40 poles for every mile of wires that travel along the highway. According to Garrett’s forensic estimates, the number of new poles per mile can reach approximately US$152,000-and that’s before single-line personnel are paid for installation work. Replacing Eversource’s entire pole system (including manual labor) will cost more than $2.5 billion, or more than $2,000 per customer.
       This is a bargain next to the underground trench line. Three years ago, Pacific Gas and Power Company estimated that the cost of burying pipelines along the line instead of laying pipelines along the line is nearly four times higher. This reflects both the labor cost and the cost of the pipeline itself, which must be protected by additional protection measures. isolation.
       Underground cables eliminate the need for pruning branches, which can save operating costs in the long term and are less prone to failure. However, when they do fail (whether it is a purge of the underground circuit or the excavator operator does not do work before digging), their repair costs are much higher. Since Sandy, Eversource has added more than 5,500 miles of underground cables to its Connecticut power grid, but only reduced its overhead distribution cables by approximately 1,400 miles, indicating that the underground infrastructure largely supports the new Develop rather than leafy towns in Connecticut’s storm mitigation strategy.
       Replacing infrastructure is not the only storm protection measure that costs money. With the intensification of the blackout after Isaiah, Eversource was hit hard because they underestimated the storm and did not have enough personnel to prepare the state.
       Some people suggest that when troubles are brewing in the Atlantic, the company should prepare a reserve line and a tree team.
       But, as Eversource’s Hallstrom pointed out, every time a hurricane spreads across Connecticut, these workers will cost the company a great deal.
       ”You can’t hire thousands of people based on’we just want to be ready,’” Hallstrom. “Economically and financially, it doesn’t make any sense. We will make the best predictions and then adjust accordingly.”
       Correction: Due to a report error, an earlier version did not pay attention to the focus of the PURA hearing on August 24, which would check the customer’s bill.