BOSTON — The state has opened a formal investigation into National Grid's response to an October windstorm that left thousands in the Merrimack Valley without electricity for days.
The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities announced the investigation Friday.
The department will "examine how National Grid responded to the ... storm, focusing on their preparations before the storm, restoration efforts after the storm, and communications with affected communities," according to a statement.
The investigation also will seek to determine if the company complied with state guidelines and regulations and its own Emergency Response Plan.
Depending on the results of the investigation, the state may levy fines up to $20 million against National Grid and order changes to the company's restoration procedures. Katie Gronendyke, spokeswoman for the state office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, said there is no required timeline for such an investigation.
Gronendyke said the last formally docketed investigation conducted by the DPU into a utility company also centered around National Grid, for its responses to Tropical Storm Irene and the October snowstorm of 2011. In 2012, the company was found to have violated the DPU's standards of acceptable performance, and was fined nearly $19 million.
“Electric ratepayers across the commonwealth should expect the timely restoration of service following extreme weather events,” said DPU Chairwoman Angela M. O’Connor in a statement.
“The Department of Public Utilities’ investigation will be fair and thorough, focused on assessing whether the storm response was consistent with existing protocols and determining whether there can be improvements to increase reliability for ratepayers,” O'Connor said.
The late October storm knocked out power to 330,610 customers across 166 of the 172 communities the company serves across Massachusetts, according to National Grid.
In a statement, National Grid said it would continue to work with the DPU to provide information throughout the investigation, and reiterated that the damage the company's infrastructure sustained from the October 2017 storm surpassed that of "other historic Massachusetts weather events," including Hurricane Sandy and Tropical Storm Irene.
"As we do following all storm events, we are reviewing our planning and response processes. We have heard from municipal officials, and welcome the opportunity for feedback from customers to continue meeting the expectations of our customers and communities," the statement said.
Bob Kievra, a spokesman for National Grid, declined to comment beyond the statement.
Some customers in the Valley, particularly in North Andover and Andover, lost power overnight Sunday, Oct. 29, and did not see it restored until Thursday, Nov. 2, prompting complaints from residents and public officials, including North Andover Town Manager Andrew Maylor.
"We certainly appreciate the fact that the DPU and others in state government felt this important enough to investigate and come to a conclusion as to how to make sure it doesn't happen again," Maylor said.
"In the end, National Grid is a major provider of utility services to our residents and someone we're willing to work with, but we also expect from a service delivery perspective that there's going to be reliable service. People expect that," Maylor added.
The DPU directed both National Grid and Eversource to file Final Event Reports on Nov. 7, just over a week after the storm hit, detailing their preparation and restoration efforts. Eversource is not under investigation.
After reviewing National Grid's report, in which the company defended its own response time, the state determined further investigation was warranted.
Barry Finegold, a former state senator who helped author the legislation that gave the state sanctioning authority, was outspoken about his disappointment in National Grid's response to the October storm, and predicted the possibility of fines against the company.
"I think they're going to look at this and I think they're going to say things could have been done better," Finegold said. "There's just too much at risk when people don't have power for three or four days. We have seen some severe cold weather and if people are out of power it can become serious, if not fatal."
The state will conduct two public hearings as part of the investigation, seeking input from residents, businesses and local officials in the areas hit hardest by the storm. The hearings will be held in North Andover at the middle school at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 13, and at McCarthy Middle School in Chelmsford at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 15.
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