“An excuse becomes an obstacle in your journey to success when it is made in place of your best effort or when it is used as the object of the blame.” —Bo Bennett
Wednesday, Public Service of New Hampshire President Gary Long went before The Governor and Executive Council and members of the Public Utilities Commission and shamelessly defended PSNH’s dismal response to the Halloween Snow storm that left thousands without power.
As conveyed in the Union Leader story yesterday, Long blamed the weather and trees, not PSNH and told the council he was, “quite proud of PSNH’s tremendous efforts,” calling the storm response “a success story.” Long took no responsibility. He even went so far as to blame customers, saying that all of the outages were caused by trees, most of which are were, outside the trim zone, fingering state laws for he says makes it hard to trim the trees. He blamed the rate payer for, “not being adequately prepared.”
The one thing Long never did was take any degree of responsibility for the areas of the highest population concentrations being without power for so very long. In fact on their website, PSNHNews.com, they claimed, ” “PSNH was well-prepared to respond to this unseasonable, historic storm …” Seriously?
Trim Zone? What exactly is a trim zone? “Trim zone” is the vernacular used by those employed within the maintenance culture of Public Service of New Hampshire. Trim Zone refers to those areas where PSNH enjoys easements and can cut without notice or permission. Outside the trim zone refers to those areas where PSNH must comply with N.H. RSA 321:172 in order to conduct their maintenance pruning operations. We, the general public would have never likely heard the term “trim zone” were it not for Long’s “blame everyone and everything but PSNH” missive.
What Long is not telling us about this whole trim zone issue is just this. First, if one reads the statute, it is painfully clear the task of obtaining access is an onerous one. And let’s be fair here. There are those who would maintain their trees to the detriment of all others and would make every effort to thwart PSNH’s ability to prune or cut trees.
But does PSNH really takes the time or the effort to follow that process or work within the framework of that statute? Facially, it apears they do not. It may well be easier to prune and cut when an emergency (like this recent outage) occurs because that is the exception within the framework of the aforementioned law. So it is not a stretch to conclude this is PSNH’s metric.
PSNH has chosen to be reactive versus proactive. During a power outage, there is no 45-day notice period, there are no public comment periods, no petitions to selectmen. An outage essentially streamlines the trimming and maintenance process and in all likelihood, this is when the bulk of their tree-trimming activities take place when outside the trim zone.
There has been no legislation entertained in this session or the prior one easing PSNH’s statutory burden for maintenance outside the trim zone. They have not sought such changes, and this is only mentioned in the context of the hard analysis of the present storm fall-out.
Gary Long blames, “Mother Nature.” Most would agree that such a snowstorm in late October is an unusual event, but not improbable. This is, after all, the Northeast. But the one constant in the Granite State are the extreme weather conditions. This is 2011. While PSNH proudly touts its technological innovations, its equipment, its talent pool of people, it presents its own prepackaged faux image of being a cutting edge utility. Stuff made out of whole cloth. The reality is, however, they are little more than a red-tape laden bureaucracy that cannot get out of its own way. Despite newer technologies, they have yet to come up with a business metric that addresses extreme weather conditions with any modicum of success.
Then there are the people…the customers. Generally a hardy bunch as most New Englanders are. Many break out generators to keep their refrigerators and heat running. Yet some are occasionally visited by line working goons lacking even an ounce of tact. “Ordering” people to shut down their generators or be arrested. Instead of conveying the concerns over dangers about generator power back feeding onto the lines, they pick fights with people.
PSNH is the standard bearer for bad customer service. People expect power outages as a fact of life in New Hampshire. But, not on an extended basis with the tin-eared Power company posting their ubiquitous recorded messages.
Perception is reality. Simply go to any Dunkin Donuts, having power and see four PSNH line trucks empty and idle in the lot while the crew sits inside drinking coffee, yuking it up and laughing and telling jokes. Really conveys sense of urgency, wouldn’t you say? And People understand that after working long hours the folks need a break, but such lackadaisical imagery only serves to exacerbate people’s misery. An extended power outage is nothing new. Yet they keep happening with greater frequency.
PSNH is a monopoly. Customer service is a secondary issue for PSNH. Their customers have no alternative to them as a provider. Were that the case, people would likely abandon them in droves. For every warm fuzzy quote they spout on their website, there are twenty that convey a polar opposite response. The Governor and executive council are correct to call them to account. Sadly, though, it will do little good. PSNH’s touchy-feely message is a mere foil.
