Utilities gave no early restoration predictions

(WTNH) -- A very public bickering between the Mayor of Bridgeport and UI brass is a reminder of just how tensions can be strained following a major disaster.

Following the Autumn Nor'easter last fall, it was CL&P's top executive coming under fire.

We all remember the pummeling CL&P's former President took last year, in large part because the company didn't live up to "power restoration guarantees."

The company is taking a much different stance this time around.

They were the comments that resonated the loudest in the hours after the Nor'easter; then CL&P President Jeffrey Butler confidently predicted that 99 percent of the power would be restored in a couple of days.

"Last year, CL&P was totally unprepared for the storm from a public relations stand point," said Rich Hanley, Quinnipiac University.

However, when tens of thousands remained in the dark for much longer Butler was forced to go back in front of the cameras and issue a very public apology.

"I will tell you we were focused on getting our customers restored as quickly as possible, but we're going to have to step back and find out what went on, what didn't work well, when we missed our projections by that much," Butler said.

Mistakes that Quinnipiac University Journalism Professor Rich Hanley says made a bad situation even worse.

"They gave unrealistic estimates which raised unrealistic expectations among folks who lost their power," Hanley said, "because of that there was a lot of anger."

What we've seen this time around from CL&P is a 180, with no early predictions about when we would see the lights back on.

The public face of CL&P this time around is Emergency Preparedness Director Bill Quinlan.

His comments have been considerably more measured than his predecessor.

"We look forward very much to turning our attention to full restoration and we hope to transition from that quickly," Quinlan said. "We think we have the resources to bring this in and deliver a strong response and plan to get us there."

Words like "quickly" and "strong response" might not be what people shivering in a cold house want to here, but they are clearly aimed at keeping public criticism at bay.

"They didn't build expectations, they said we're going to do the assessment first and give you the expectations second and that's exactly what they did," Hanley said. "It doesn't mean that people still aren't upset that they're power isn't on, but it does mean they're expectations were calibrated with reality."

The fall-out from all those problems was severe for Jeff Butler. He resigned as CEO just weeks after the Nor'easter.

Utility officials certainly hope to 'weather' the current storm much more effectively.