Town Of Waterford: 2022 Eversource Vegetation Management Plan

Waterford CT

23 January, 2022

12:47 PM

Description

Press release from the Town of Waterford: January 22, 2022 Translate Steps taken to address power outages in Waterford and Quaker Hill Update from Eversource on 2022 Waterford Tree Trimming/Vegetation Management Plan: As many Waterford residents are well aware, the past 2 years saw a record number of storms and subsequent power outages in town. Your frustration was heard. I made your concerns a priority and communicated with Eversource directly and regularly and will continue to voice your concerns and frustration with the number of power outages in town. I requested a storm liaison with Eversource be assigned each storm, to ensure outages were addressed quicker and there was a presence by Eversource in our Emergency Operations Center. I asked our Public Works Director to identify areas in town where trees needed to be trimmed and report those roads to the Eversource Tree Warden. All in an effort to prevent continued outages and risks that come from power outages. Risks like, seniors and residents in Waterford that rely on electricity for refrigeration of medications, residents who rely on oxygen, businesses that do not have generator back up or security systems, residents who can't afford to lose hundreds and hundreds of dollars of food in their refrigerator and freezer, and finally, residents who lose heat in the winter and air conditioning in the summer, a situation that can be life threatening. Thank you Eversource for listening and prioritizing tree trimming throughout town over the past year...it is helping! Our most recent winter storm and high winds last week, for example, saw only a fraction of the number of outages from storms a year ago. Moving forward and to ensure Waterford and Quaker Hill residents do not lose power so frequently, Eversource has recently implemented a new Vegetation Management Town Scorecard for Waterford. In 2022, Eversource will schedule 41 miles of tree trimming throughout Waterford/Quaker Hill from 7am-7pm Monday-Saturday. They will report on blocked roads, which were a staggering 70 road closures from 2016-2021! They will report the % of tree-related outages, which was 41% in 2021. They have also agreed to report the number of residents and customers impacted, which was 6,132 Waterford residents last year. I will do my best to keep residents updated on scheduled tree work by Eversource and will continue to work closely with Eversource to ensure they prioritize you, the ratepayer and Waterford resident, with their storm response and restoration times. All in a concerted effort to keep power on and you safe. #improvedcomunication #publicsafety #teameffort #accountability #responsibility ~Rob Brule, First Selectman This press release was produced by the Town of Waterford.The views expressed here are the author's own.