Public Hearing on Storm Response in Westport April 12

 Governor M. Jodi Rell announced today that a public hearing will be held April 12 in Westport as part of the investigation she ordered into the actions of the state's two largest electric utilities during and after the March 13-14 storm.

Three other public hearings will also be held in other Fairfield County towns. The schedule is listed below:

• New Canaan: 6:30 p.m., April 7 at New Canaan Town Hall, 77 Main Street
• Westport: 6:30 p.m., April 12, Westport Town Hall, 110 Myrtle Avenue
• Fairfield: 6:30 p.m. April 14, Fairfield Town Hall, 725 Old Post Road
• Greenwich: 6:30 p.m. April 15, Greenwich Town Hall, 101 Field Point Road

Earlier this month, Rell directed the Department of Public Utility Control and the Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security to conduct a joint investigation into complaints about the actions of Connecticut Light & Power Co. and United Illuminating Co. The severe storm brought high winds and heavy rains that contributed to the deaths of three people, downed thousands of trees and tree limbs, snapped hundreds of utility poles and left nearly 100,000 Connecticut homes and businesses without power.

 Tens of thousands of customers were without power for three days or more and some customers were without power for as long as six days. During the storm, municipal and emergency officials complained that initial response to the widespread power outages was slow.

"I have asked the state agencies to make sure they hear not only from the tens of thousands of customers who were without power for days at a time but also from the town leaders and emergency officials who could not reach anyone at the utilities," Rell said. 

Those who cannot make it to the public meetings have additional ways to offer comments. Ratepayers can call the agency's Consumer Representative hot line at (800) 382-4586 or fill out a comment form on the DPUC's Web site at www.ct.gov/DPUC.