Customers Want Lights Out On Unitil
Unitil Defends Efforts After Winter Storm
POSTED: 6:20 pm EST January 5,
2009
UPDATED: 6:41 pm EST January 5,
2009
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LUNENBURG, Mass. -- After some customers were left in the dark for up to 12 days after a winter storm, residents of several central Massachusetts towns said they have had enough of power company Unitil.
Customers Want Lights Out On UnitilNewsCenter 5's Jack Harper reported that the company issued an apology last week, but residents say it was too little too late."I understand people's frustration and anger. What I don't understand is why we have become the sole poster-child for what was a regional event," said Unitil Chairman Robert Schoenberger.Residents of Lunenburg, Fitchburg and other central Massachusetts towns said they are done dealing with Unitil. Some residents were without power for 12 days after the Dec. 12 storm."They are the highest priced and the service is not good. So we have to do something and now we are going to get together so we can kick them out," one frustrated customer said.Town officials said better maintenance could have headed off some of the outages."Their infrastructure was in very poor repair. I guess the one good thing now is that almost all of the infrastructure has been completely replaced, and any of the limbs that were intertwined with the lines are down now," said Lunenburg Town Manager Kerry Speidel."We just couldn’t get enough crews to get the job done any faster," Schoenberger said.Schoenberger said it took 800 workers four days of working around the clock to get the last 4,000 customers back online."I believe at that end of the day, when we get through the inquiries that are ongoing, that it will prove that we did the best job that we could given the situation we faced," Schoenberger said.
Customers Want Lights Out On UnitilNewsCenter 5's Jack Harper reported that the company issued an apology last week, but residents say it was too little too late."I understand people's frustration and anger. What I don't understand is why we have become the sole poster-child for what was a regional event," said Unitil Chairman Robert Schoenberger.Residents of Lunenburg, Fitchburg and other central Massachusetts towns said they are done dealing with Unitil. Some residents were without power for 12 days after the Dec. 12 storm."They are the highest priced and the service is not good. So we have to do something and now we are going to get together so we can kick them out," one frustrated customer said.Town officials said better maintenance could have headed off some of the outages."Their infrastructure was in very poor repair. I guess the one good thing now is that almost all of the infrastructure has been completely replaced, and any of the limbs that were intertwined with the lines are down now," said Lunenburg Town Manager Kerry Speidel."We just couldn’t get enough crews to get the job done any faster," Schoenberger said.Schoenberger said it took 800 workers four days of working around the clock to get the last 4,000 customers back online."I believe at that end of the day, when we get through the inquiries that are ongoing, that it will prove that we did the best job that we could given the situation we faced," Schoenberger said. Copyright 2009 by TheBostonChannel.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
