(Host) Last spring’s devastating storm in Rutland County was a record-setter. And now it’s an award winner.
Central Vermont Public Service Corporation has been recognized by the electric utility industry for the way it cleaned up and restored power.
The Edison Electric Institute has given CVPS its "emergency recovery award” for getting electric flowing to all of its customers after last April’s storm.
Steve Costello says CVPS has never seen a storm like it.
(Costello) “The April Nor’icane, as it was tabbed by the National Weather Service, was the biggest storm in our history, by far. We lost 68,000 customers, which is 42 percent of our total customer numbers. We had massive devastation in some areas – thousands of trees knocked down, some areas cut down like corn rows.”
(Host) Central Vermont’s response was recognized by the industry because the company is relatively small among utilities.
It has 96 line crews. But to recover, it brought in more than 200 crews from as far as Ontario. The extra staff helped CVPS restore power in five days.
Costello says the company saw the weather coming and was able to prepare in advance, which allowed it to begin repairs quickly.