CL&P Exec: Restoration Efforts Have Been 'Very Strong'

At a news conference Saturday, Bill Quinlan, vice president of emergency management for CL&P, said the pace of restoring power in Fairfield County after superstorm Sandy has been "very strong."

Speaking at a staging area for restoration crews and equipment in Sherwood Island State Park in Westport, Quinlan said his company's quick response was due to having many resources in place before the storm struck.

Quinlan said his company's initial priority was to deal with public health and safety issues, including restoring power to hospitals. Beyond that, he said, the goal was to restore power to its customers "as quickly as we can.

The company intends to have power restored to all polling stations by Sunday so there is no impact on Tuesday's elections, he said.

Quinlan said CL&P's parent company, Northeast Utilities, has brought in crews from its Massachusetts company, so, "There's been a significant infusion of management, talent and resources, which is going to help us drive this restoration forward."

He said there are currently more than 3,000 line workers in the field and more 1,500 tree workers.

"We're going to continue to add resources necessary to conclude this just as quickly as possible for our customers," Quinlan said. He said CL&P forcecasts that restoration of power will be "substantially complete" by Monday or Tuesday.

Quinlan said a rumor that restoration crews are leaving Connecticut to work in New York and New Jersey is untrue. He said the public may see crews passing through Connecticut to work in those states, but none of the crews designated to work here will be leaving until restoration is complete.

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