An unprecedented nor’easter that ravaged the northeast last weekend with snow, wind, ice, fallen trees, and downed wires, left more than 820,000 Connecticut residences and businesses without electric power as of last Sunday. Some in Connecticut and Massachusetts remained still, after a week, without power. The storm arrived just two months after Tropical Storm Irene left nearly the same number of customers without power, some also for a week.

Many school districts in Connecticut have been closed for a full week, with school buildings that have generators having been turned into shelters for those needing hot meals and protection from evening subzero temperatures. Long lines at gas stations, reminiscent of the Carter presidency shortages, became a familiar sight in some areas. Halloween was officially “cancelled” in many towns, and many small businesses, already struggling due to both the economy, in general, as well as recent tax increases in Connecticut, have now suffered two full weeks of losses this year due to the lack of power.

Connecticut Light & Power (CL&P), a subsidiary of Northeast Utilities (NU), the state’s main electric utility,  reports that storm-related repairs are expected to cost between $75 million and $100 million. The company, which, like other utility companies affected by the storm, had to import line crews from other states, set a goal of 99% restoration of power by midnight, November 6th, a goal it was unable to meet.

But the serious tangle of trees and wires on the ground also mirrors the messy mixture of honest outrage of Connecticut residents and the political grandstanding of the state’s Democratic politicians who have had, in fact, a marriage of convenience with the mega-utility. 

In response to the anger and frustration of Connecticut residents and businessowners, there is plenty of Democratic finger-pointing and blaming to go around. Democratic and Working Families Party Governor Dannel Malloy, and Democratic lawmakers, are vowing to hold CL&P’s feet to the fire. Democratic Speaker of the State House, Christopher Donovan, a candidate for Congress, has suggested that CL&P be fined for not restoring power to customers sooner. Democratic Attorney General George Jepsen has called for an investigation into the utility company. And Jeff Butler, chief operating officer of CL&P, appears always ready to draw fire with his statements about how the company is “frustrated” that it has not been able to obtain more line crews, and how it has not met its stated goals. An interesting cast of characters, many of whom are also prepping Connecticut residents for rate increases to pay for the restoration for two major storms or “fines,” if they are imposed.

There are some legitimate problems with CL&P.

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It is no secret that the White House is using, with alarming frequency, czars, boards, and executive orders to implement policies that have been met by “inconvenient” obstacles- like the American people and their representatives in Congress.

Following in President Obama’s authoritarian footsteps is the ruling Democratic class of the small state of Connecticut, where Obama-clone Governor Dannel Malloy has recruited, from Yale University, nationally known environmental expert, Daniel Esty, to be the state’s commissioner of the newly combined Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP). Of his new recruit, Governor Malloy said, “His experience advising private companies and the president of the United States, coupled with his knowledge of environmental law and policy is second-to-none, and I know this new department will be on the cutting edge of environmental and energy policy with Dan at the helm.”

In 2007 and 2008, Mr. Esty served first as Presidential candidate Barack Obama’s campaign adviser on energy and the environment, and later on as a member of the presidential transition team. So, little wonder Mr. Obama and Commissioner Esty are of the same ilk when it comes to “green” energy and its imposition into the lives of the American people- whether they want it or not.

Mr. Esty sparked considerable controversy recently in the Constitution state through his unprecedented intervention in the matter of Connecticut’s Public Utilities Regulatory Authority’s (PURA) management of a multimillion-dollar application by Connecticut Light & Power Co. (CL&P), which provides electric utility service to most of the state. The application, which involves the rapid installation of 1.2 million “Smart Meters” at residences and businesses over the next four years, was challenged by the state’s Attorney General, George Jepsen, the Office of Consumer Counsel, and an association of industrial energy users. Several weeks ago, Commissioner Esty wrote PURA, upon its draft decision to reject CL&P’s application, asking it to suspend its decision for a few months until his department can “establish the state’s smart meter policy.”

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