POLL: Stamford Residents Could Receive CL&P Credit

Stamford residents who lost power due to Winter Storm Alfred and didn't have power restored by 12:00 p.m. on Nov. 5 will be entitled to a February 2012 bill credit of up to $200, according to Connecticut Light and Power.

"The credit was not intended to be a reimbursement for losses during the storm, but rather a gesture of goodwill to the approximately last 25 percent of our customers to get power back – those without power a week or more," CL&P executive Sharon Eberman said in a recent press release.

46% of the participants in a felt that CL&P should offer credit, but probably wouldn't.

Only a small percentage of Stamford residents may be eligible for CL&P's bill credit, as only 4% of Stamford's residents, as of Monday, Nov. 1 were still without power. Between Nov. 1. and Nov. 5, most, if not all of Stamford had their electricity back on.

"Using a guideline of customer usage of 700 kilowatt-hours per month along with the 'average' monthly CL&P bill of about $123, it was determined that a credit of between $100 and $200 would be considered significant," CL&P stated in their most recent press release.

CL&P faced scrutiny from Mayor Michael Pavia Hurricane Irene, and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy stated that he was "underwhelmed" by CL&P's response following Winter Storm Alfred. Former CL&P president Jeff Butler resigned in mid-November amid the public and political backlash.

"We acknowledge that the credit system is not perfect, and that there will be people that are unhappy with the way in which we set the cut off and are administering the fund...we hope that most of our customers will recognize the fund for what it is – our sincere attempt to show that we care about our customers," Eberman said.

Residents from North Stamford had a particularly difficult time during Winter Storm Alfred, having reported the most damage and experiencing storm outages for the longest period of time.