Power outages, now and then

Since 1973 I have been caretaker for the Yelping Hill Association in West Cornwall: 424 wooded acres, 23 summer homes, including mine — and a mile of CL&P electric poles and overhead wires. CL&P and I have been through a lot of storms and electrical outages on Yelping Hill but nothing like what we experienced after the recent nor’easter.In the old days, year in and year out, when we had wires down on The Hill, the same CL&P foreman and crew came out to fix the trouble. They knew about that loose circuit breaker on pole #232 on Ford Hill Road, the one that would trip at the least excuse. They knew that dead branches were always downing wires between Chester/McClelland and the Gray place on Pump-A-Tanka. The foreman, who would soon retire, had been working Yelping Hill almost since electrical power came to Cornwall during the Depression. That foreman and his experienced repair crew didn’t have to hunt and peck my problems. They knew the ground at Yelping Hill — knew the weaknesses of our old system and could often guess what had happened and where. But it was more than their deep knowledge. The culture of CL&P back in those days made linemen out of local people. Often local kids apprenticed with their dads or uncles so the wisdom of the electrical system was passed from generation to generation. The first time I realized how much things had changed was about seven years ago, when after a heavy snow, we had lines down and two broken poles at the MacCracken place. CL&P had to plow to get in there, and I had to show them where “there” was. They didn’t know. Not only didn’t they know, they still didn’t know after I had told them. The crew was eastern European and didn’t speak any English. The foreman did speak English — sort of. I will say that those guys were good, very good at their work, I thought.One other quick story: Late one cold, rainy, miserable fall afternoon, I was doing my rounds when I came upon a lone CL&P power pole checker. He had been evaluating poles and marking those that needed to be replaced, but when I passed him in my truck he flagged me down. I rolled down my window and in a plaintive voice he asked me something in Spanish. I don’t speak Spanish but my wife does and, as he looked so lost and downhearted, I went and got Virginia. The pole checker was being housed 12 miles away in a local motel, but his ride hadn’t shown up. We drove him.So this is the story as of now, after the storm we just went through. Back in 1998, CL&P got deregulated, our power horse in Connecticut got let out of the barn by Wall Street to roam free in the fields of profit. I have been reading the newspapers since the nor’easter that just clobbered us, and I will quote you some facts: In the last decade CL&P’s work force has been cut 10 percent. CL&P’s parent company, Northeast Utilities (NU) for the first half of 2011 made a profit of $191.4 million, up from $158.2 in the first half of 2010. NU has paid stockholder dividends for 30 straight quarters and the amount paid per share has nearly doubled in the last seven years. You accomplish those kinds of profits by cutting your work force and cheaping out on equipment maintenance and replacement; also by a go-slow policy of hiring out-of-state crews to deal with emergencies. And, oh yeah: Charles W. Shivery, CEO of NU, saw his annual compensation jump from $7.8 million to $8.25 million 2009-2010. Charley, question for you from your rate payers: How much you taking home this year? Wm. Earl Brecher lives in West Cornwall.